Money Moves
by gb1076
Summary: Bonnie Bennett is a dancer at an Atlanta strip club and her encounter with Damon Salvatore changes both of their lives.
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't everyday that a white boy stepped inside of _The Black Diamond Strip Club_ , after all it was in the hood, southwest Atlanta to be exact, which made everyone there look at him suspiciously wondering what the hell he was doing there because he was clearly out of place.

With that being said there was only one thought on everyone's mind.

 _Was he five-O?_

And if he was, then why would the police even bother because compared to other clubs in the city, _The Black Diamond_ was a little hole in the wall strip club a good five miles from downtown Atlanta and a few more from Buckhead where the white strip clubs where located.

Which begged the question, why would he stop at their little humble establishment? Niggas were just trying to earn an honest living.

Something just wasn't right about him being there and that's why Terry kept his eyes on him from the moment he entered the club and sat to order a drink.

From his station in the corner of the club Terry could literally see everything.

At six-four, three hundred and twenty-five pounds, Terry was an imposing figure to say the least and his dark skin always glistened with a light sheen of sweat no matter what the temperate outside as if his large body just seemed to draw heat.

Even now as he watched the white boy, he had to wipe away the moisture that had gathered along his forehead with a clean white face rag.

The front door of the club opened, temporarily drawing Terry's attention away from his only Caucasian patron.

It was Fish and Terry quickly motioned him over with the wave of his hand.

Pointing to the white boy who was currently ordering another drink, he asked Fish if he'd seen him drive up.

Fish was the local drunk that hung around outside of the club trying to earn a few bucks to feed his addiction. He was a functioning alcoholic, doing little odd jobs here and there and would promptly get lost once he made enough money to buy himself a pint of gin.

Terry had him outside picking up trash around the club and promised him five dollars once he was finished. That's why Fish was there. To collect his money.

"Yeah I saw when he pulled up. Bruh is in a sleek black Porsche and it's sweet, man. I swear if I had a car like that..."

Terry sort of stopped listening as Fish ramble on in his fantasy.

Cops didn't drive Porches that was for damn sure. Not even the federal ones making the big bucks.

He pulled out his phone and texted Keith at the bar.

 _What's white boy drinking on?_

Within seconds he got a reply.

 _Bourbon. The best in the house. His words._

Interesting, thought Terry as some of the tension left his big overheated body now that he knew bruh wasn't the Po-po looking to bust up his little club, but never the less he decided to keep an eye on him just to make sure there was no trouble.

* * *

Bonnie immediately peeped the black Porsche parked outside of the club as she walked up to the door, briefly wondering if the owner of the luxury vehicle was some ball player or rapper before she went inside to begin her night.

Every now and then they did get a homegrown celebrity looking to make it rain at the club. It didn't happen often, but when it did it made for a very good night and boy did she need the money right now.

No joke.

Her car was in the shop and it would cost five hundred and fifty dollars to get it fixed.

And if that wasn't enough, her rent was due in two days and thanks to her crackhead sister, she no longer had it, which meant she had to make that money back asap.

"You're late..again."

Bonnie refrained from rolling her eyes and getting an attitude as she turned around to face the giant of a man who towered over her petite five feet two frame.

After all, Terry was her boss and she needed this job.

"Terry you know I'm riding Marta until my car is fixed. The train was late, which made me miss my bus, so it wasn't my fault."

He scoffed. It was a very convenient excuse considering even when she had a fucking car, her ass was still late to work.

But the thing was he couldn't fire her if he wanted to because out of all his girls she made him the most money.

Bonnie was by far the prettiest girl he had dancing for him. She was light skin with green eyes and she had a hot little body which she knew how to move and other than being late, she gave him no trouble at all, she came to work, made that dough and then bounced. In and out. She minded her own fucking business.

"Where's the Porsche?" She asked before Terry could respond further to her excuse for being late to work, her green eyes eagerly scanning the club.

He chuckled softly in-spite of himself. Game recognizing game. Bonnie was about that money and he couldn't fault her for it because he was the same way.

"The white boy." He answered.

Her eyes zeroed in on him and in a manner of seconds she sized him up just by how he looked alone.

 _Hugo Boss suit._

 _Italian leather shoes._

 _A hundred dollar hair cut._

Her fucking mouth watered. Damn, she could practically smell the money from where she stood.

"He's definitely no rapper."

Terry laughed. "You think."

"Baseball player?" She wondered a loud because he was white and from what she could see from the back of him, he was of an ordinary height and build.

"Either way, he's not balling. Dude been here over an hour and hasn't thrown a single dollar, but he's drinking though. Bourbon...the expensive stuff."

Her eyes quickly scanned the club to see which girls were dancing tonight.

She only saw Teresa, Valerie and Ebony.

It was almost laughable. Shit, if she was him she wouldn't throw them a dollar either.

But what got Bonnie was the fact that neither of them where dancing for him.

Didn't they recognize money when they saw it? Or were they too intimidated to approach him because he was white?

Well either way, Bonnie didn't know and frankly she didn't care.

She needed to make her rent money tonight and would worry about getting her car fixed later.

"In ten minutes, I want you to have Benny put on _Pony,_ okay?"

It was time to go make that money.

* * *

Damon Salvatore was oblivious to his surroundings. Of course, he knew that he was in a strip club, but he wasn't really paying attention to what was going on around him.

He was inside of his head. His mind a million miles away. But not really a million miles, more like five where his father lay fighting for his life in Atlanta's top trauma hospital in downtown Atlanta.

God sure did have a sense of humor.

Imagine his wealthy, pompous father Giuseppe Salvatore occupying the same hospital as the homeless, people on welfare and the working class.

Maybe it was a good thing he was in a coma, Damon thought to himself as he sat their drinking his bourbon, which wasn't that great but would do the job of silencing his mind of what was to come.

Just four days ago, his father had a stroke while at work and had to be rushed to the hospital. His brain began to swell and he had to have emergency surgery were the doctors had to remove part of his skull.

It didn't look good. In fact, his old man didn't look good.

Seeing his father like that got to Damon more than he cared to admit. And tonight, he'd suffered a seizure.

So Damon was in a really bad place right now, having a hard time wrapping his mind around everything that was happening, hence his rash decision to stop at this strip club which was a few miles from the hospital.

He just needed a drink. That's all. Something to take the edge off. A distraction from all the shit that was happening in his life.

But it wasn't really working to be honest because all he could think about was his father.

 _I'm just a bachelor  
I'm looking for a partner  
Someone who knows how to ride  
Without even falling off_

Damon heard the music, but he didn't look up from the glass of bourbon sitting in front of him.

But then two tiny feet in six inch stripper heels appeared in his line of vision. They were pretty feet, with shiny white polish painted on pedicured toe nails.

Damon lifted his head up and realized there was a girl dancing in front of him. A very pretty girl. With long wavy ombre colored hair that was dark at the top and got lighter towards the ends. She was short but she had curves in all the right places and amazing legs that looked buttery soft.

 _Gotta be compatible  
Takes me to my limits  
Girl when I break you off  
I promise that you won't want to get off_

Every thought that was inside of his head magically disappeared and it was a relief as he focused solely on her gyrating body.

It was as if she was placing a spell on him. Hypnotizing his mind as she danced.

And all he could do was watch, but his blue eyes ate up every movement.

 _If you're horny, let's do it  
Ride it, my pony  
My saddle's waiting  
Come and jump on it _

She was in all black, his favorite color. Wearing one of those bikini looking lingerie sets with the garter belts attached to the bottoms and fish-net stockings.

 _If you're horny, let's do it  
Ride it, my pony  
_

She suddenly dropped to the floor and began hunching the ground as if she was imitating a man fucking.

 _Sitting here flossing  
Peeping your steelo  
Just once if I have the chance  
The things I will do to you_

She sat up, facing towards him with her legs open and slid her right hand down the middle of her body, touching herself while looking dead at him.

Her eyes were green.

 _You and your body  
Every single portion  
Send chills up and down your spine  
Juices flowing down your thigh_

 _If you're horny, let's do it  
Ride it, my pony_

 _My saddle's waiting  
Come and jump on it_

She began grinding her hips as if she was literally riding him.

Damon's dick twitched inside of his pants and began to hardened underneath the table as he watched her ride, imaging himself beneath her.

He licked his lips.

Bonnie was beginning to get pissed off though as she danced for him, but her face didn't show it because she was a professional, but the song was coming to an end and this guy hadn't thrown not one dime her way.

What was his fucking problem? She'd danced exclusively for him for an entire song and nothing.

"What's the matter, handsome...you don't like my dancing?" She asked, and then stood up and turning her back to him, she squatted down in her six inch stripper heels and began popping her ass mere inches from his face.

 _If you're horny, let's do it  
Ride it, my pony_

 _My saddle's waiting  
Come and jump on it_

Never had Bonnie Bennett given a free dance and she wasn't about to start now.

"The song's almost over. Tip me." She said looking at him from over her shoulder.

Damon snapped out of the slight daze she'd put him in and placing his hand inside of his jacket, he pulled out his wallet.

Clearing his throat, he pulled out two hundred dollar bills and handed it to her. But instead of taking it, she stepped closer, her feet on either side of his glass of bourbon and Damon placed the money underneath her left garter belt. His finger-tips lightly grazing her thigh and her skin was as soft as it looked.

"See, that wasn't so hard." She said, and then turned to walk away.

Damon immediately spoke up, stopping her. "Wait!"

Bonnie turned back to him to see what he wanted.

"Yes?"

Damon swallowed hard. For a split second his mind going blank as she stared at him with those green eyes of hers.

"I want another dance." He said.

"It's gonna cost you." Being up front because she wanted no misunderstandings.

Damon nodded his head and Bonnie watched in utter fascination as he opened his wallet back up and pulled out every last bill inside of it.

"How many dances will this get me?" He asked looking up at her.

Bonnie smiled down at him. "Baby, you've got me for the entire night."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 has been deleted because it was not how I intended for this story to go, but because I felt pressured to update this fic I went into another direction instead of waiting for the storyline to developed organically. I see now that was a mistake and it won't happen again.

From now on, if I have writer's block or even just not feeling what I'm writing...I will NOT update a story for the sake of just putting something out there.

And that goes for all of my Bamon fics, unfinished and new.

I'm sorry for any inconvenience.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Chapter 2 of this fic has been DELETED. I'm sorry for the confusion. Everything is explained inside the author's note posted in place of "chapter 2". This update is more in line with where I wanted to go with this story so please bear with me folks until I get all the kinks worked out. Enjoy.  
**

* * *

"Mama, you can't let her back into the house." Bonnie said from her position at the stove, frying some bacon for breakfast.

Abbey Bennett sat at the kitchen table smoking a cigarette, dressed in her nightgown and a blue bathrobe that had seen better days.

"She's my daughter Bonnie and your big sister...we're family." Abbey said calmly. But when she brought the cigarette back up to her mouth, her hand trembled slightly.

"Felicia took our rent money, mama...we almost got put out of this apartment!"

"Well, you were able to make it all back dancing at the club."

Bonnie cut the stove off, placing the cooked bacon onto a plate then turned around to face her mother.

"And what if I hadn't?" She asked, her pretty face grave.

Abbey didn't respond, not making any eye contact with her baby girl as she took a long drag from the cigarette in her mouth to calm her nerves because she was so worried for her first born.

Bonnie answered for her. "We would be out on the streets right now. You, me...and Tristan."

Abbey swallowed hard at the thought of her grand-baby. She loved that little boy. He was her heart.

"Felicia's a crackhead, mama and you got to let her go before she drags us down along with her."

"She's my daughter, Bonnie...I can't do that!"

"Well, so am I!" Bonnie screamed heatedly, her green eyes filling up with tears.

"Please stop fighting."

Both women turned at the sound of the four years old tearful plea.

Tristan stood in the entryway dressed in his Spider-man pajamas clearly having been awaken from his sleep by their loud voices.

Quickly placing the cigarette down into the ashtray, Abbey went to her grandson picking him up.

"Don't cry baby."

"I don't like it when you and Bonnie fight." He sniveled, rubbing his eyes.

"We're not fighting baby." The older woman said, kissing his cheek as she hugged him closer to her.

"Yes you were...I heard you. You were fighting about mommy."

Abbey's and Bonnie's eyes met.

Tristan was Felicia's son, but he might as well have been Bonnie's because she was the one who took care of and provided for him like a mother.

"Grand-mama's right Tristan, we weren't fighting. Our voices were just loud, so stop crying okay...are you hungry?" Bonnie asked him.

The little boy nodded his head. He wiped his tears away, sniffing softly and Abbey kissed his cheek one last time before placing him back down. She watched him go to the table and sit down. He was such a little man.

"Do you want some bacon and eggs or do you want some cereal for your breakfast?" Bonnie asked him.

"Bacon and eggs, please." He answered yawning, clearly still sleepy.

Bonnie began to make his plate.

"Are you coming to church with us this morning?" Abbey asked, side-eyeing her daughter because she already knew the answer to that question.

"No I'm not, mama. I'm tired. I worked last night, remember."

"Which is why you need to go...to repent for your sins."

Bonnie chuckled...because if she didn't laugh, she would cry. "Well mama, as I see it, it's my sinning that's keeping a roof over all our heads and food on the table. So instead of judging me, try praying for me...like you do every Sunday for Felicia."

She placed the plate down in front of Tristan. "Here you go baby."

"Thank you Bonnie." He said before picking up a slice of bacon and eating.

"You see that mama, he's only four years old and he knows how to say _thank you_ for what he's given...out of the mouths of babes, right?"

And she walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

Everything was being placed upon Damon's shoulders and he was starting to struggle underneath the weight of it all.

It was one thing after another, a literal snowball effect and it was causing him to crack under pressure .

First his father had a stroke and fell into a coma, so he had to step up to the plate taking over the running of the company. But, that was no problem because all of his life that was what Giuseppe had groomed him to do, so it was a smooth transition into a very demanding position that would require most of his time but that was okay because while taking care of the business Damon knew that his brother Stefan and their mother were taking care of home, meaning Giuseppe's medical care.

So everyone had their job and for a while it was working.

But as the days started to turn into weeks and Giuseppe wasn't getting in better, the Salvatore's began to crack one by one.

His mother, after fifteen years of sobriety, started back drinking.

She couldn't take it anymore, watching the man she loved slowly slipping away from her day after day; it was killing her to see that, so she went back to the one thing that could always take away her pain. Booze.

And with their mother now off the wagon, Stefan began partying more and staying away from home, so now not only did Damon have the business to take care of, but now his father's medical care as well.

It was too much.

And the thing was Damon didn't have the luxury to spiral out of control like his mother and brother because too much was at stake if he did.

But he did need a distraction, even if just for a little while, just to take his mind off of everything, which was why Damon found himself pulling into the little hole in the wall strip club in southwest Atlanta hoping that a certain someone was dancing tonight.

* * *

Terry was going to finally fire her, Bonnie just knew it.

She was two hours late for work and it was all because of that damn Marta train.

They were having technical issues which left all the trains just sitting on the tracks until they were able to fix the problem. And now she could possibly lose her job over this shit.

It was close to midnight by the time she walked inside of the club.

Terry was standing right there by the door when she entered.

"Your services are no longer required at this establishment." He told her.

Sometimes, Bonnie believed that she was psychic because every now and then when she thought something, it happened.

And all the while she'd been on the train waiting for it to move so that she could get to work her only thought was tonight would be the night she was fired.

And now it was happening. Bonnie didn't even try to plead for her job because it was a lost cause.

When she didn't say anything, Terrysuddenly felt bad, needing to explain himself.

"Look, it's nothing personal Bonnie. But this is my business and if I keep allowing you to come to work late all the other girls are going to start thinking it's okay to do, and I can't have that."

Bonnie just nodded her head and left back out the door.

Once outside she took a deep cleansing breath, releasing it out slowly. She refused to allow herself to panic.

Everything would work itself out, she told herself. It always did.

She saw a Marta bus coming from down the street, and she didn't move a muscle because going home was the last thing she wanted to do.

So instead, Bonnie crossed the street and walked the two blocks up to Sookie's Diner, holding on tightly to her trusty can of mace.

* * *

With his evening not going at all how he expected, Damon ended up at this diner, eating a piece of cherry pie with a cup of black coffee and it was surprisingly good.

And just when he was about to call it a night and go home the reason why he was on this side of town walked into the diner.

Damon couldn't believe his luck. She was right there, less than fifty feet away from him.

He watched as she looked for a place to sit and he couldn't help but notice how normal she looked dressed in a tee shirt and jeans and sneakers with her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

No one in that diner would ever guess she was a stripper.

And without any makeup on her pretty face, she looked impossibly young, but Damon knew for a fact that she was nineteen.

And that wasn't all he knew about her.

Her name was Bonnie Bennett and she graduated from Westlake high school two years ago. She lived in the projects with her mother and little nephew, whom she took care of and she had an older sister who was on drugs. There was no sign of a father figure in the household. Or a boyfriend for that matter which surprised Damon.

He had her investigated.

Damon still didn't know why he did that. Maybe it was just another excuse to get his mind off of his own life. Who knew.

His mind was just all over the place lately.

And that was never a good thing for anyone.

* * *

"I'll have the home-style waffle with a side of bacon." Bonnie said to the waitress.

"That sounds really good, can you make that two please." Damon said, sliding into the seat opposite her.

Bonnie's green eyes widened. The absolute nerve of some men was astounding.

No one asked him to join her and just when she was about to say that, she recognized him.

It was his eyes. She'd never met anyone with eyes like his.

"Sure thing." The waitress said writing it down before taking her leave.

The two just stared at each other.

And then finally, Damon spoke. "I came to the club tonight, but you weren't there."

Bonnie couldn't look away from his eyes or his face in general. He was absolutely gorgeous.

But then his words penetrated through to her brain and she frowned slightly.

The last thing she needed in her life right now was some guy fucking stalking her.

"Excuse me?" She said.

Damon immediately sensed her wariness and watched as her eyes darted away from his, scoping the diner out and when she spotted the two cops sitting at the counter eating, she relaxed some returning his gaze.

His stunning blue eyes bored into hers with an intensity Bonnie never experienced before and it only spooked her more.

"I'm not some psycho, so please don't be afraid of me, Bonnie."

She gasped sharply. "H-how did you know my name?"

Fuck! Damon couldn't believe he slipped up like that.

Bonnie swallowed hard. "Answer me right now, how do you know my name?"

"I inquired about you at the club." He lied effortlessly for both their sake because telling her the truth would only make her more wary of him when there was no need to be.

She licked her lips, exhaling softly. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to know who you were." He answered truthfully.

"Why?"

"I want to get to know you."

Bonnie shook her head, clearly confused. "Okay, I know I'm sounding like a broken record...but why?" None of this was making any sense to her.

"Because I want to fuck you!" He blurted out, surprising them both.

But it was the point of it all, Damon realized being honest with himself. He wanted to fuck her. Plain and simple.

"Now does that answer your question?" He asked, his blue eyes glinting.

"Yes...it does." She said, swallowing hard.

It was at that moment the waitress brought their food.

They were both silent as she placed their orders in front of them.

"Is there anything else I can get you two?"

"Bonnie is there anything else you want...I'm paying." He asked.

She shook her head no.

Damon's eyes finally released hers from his smoldering gaze briefly flicking up at the waitress.

"That will be all then. Thank you."

"Enjoy." The waitress said before leaving them alone.

"Look, I didn't mean to be crude." He said apologetically.

"No, you were being honest and that's more than I can say for most guys."

And just like that all of that tension that was in the air just seconds before, vanished. It was the weirdest thing.

Just by being honest with Bonnie and telling her his motives, she completely let down her guard.

"So you know my name, but I don't know yours."

"Damon Salvatore."

Her brows quirked up in interest. "Salvatore? You're Italian?" She asked, picking up the syrup and pouring some onto her waffle.

"Italian American, but my grandfather was born in Italy." He answered, picking up the syrup once she was done and doing the same to his waffle.

"Do you speak the language?"

"Some. I used to be fluent when I was really young, but then my grand-father died and I stopped speaking it everyday, so I kinda forgot how to say stuff, you know. "

Bonnie began to eat her food. Damon proceeded to eat his. "Damn, this is really good." He said after a moment.

"Is this your first time eating here?" She asked.

He nodded, his mouth full.

Picking up a paper napkin, he wiped around his mouth before speaking. "Yeah, I discovered it tonight and I'm glad I did. So far the food's been pretty good. Do you come here often?"

"Yeah, pretty much. But probably not so much after tonight."

"Oh yeah, why's that?" He asked.

Bonnie exhaled softly, pushing her plate away no longer hungry all of a sudden. "Because I just got fired."

"Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. May I asked why?"

Bonnie shook her head, chuckling softly. "I was late."

Damon frowned. "Well, I think that's kind of harsh. I mean everyone's late to work every now and then."

"Well, I was late all the time Damon. I sorta had it coming."

Damon knew that Bonnie provided financially for her family. So she had to be freaking out right now even though outwardly she didn't look it.

"So what are you going to do?"

She sighed. "That's the million dollar question...I don't know. For the first time in my life I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do."

Damon watched Bonnie closely as she stared out the window.

"I could help you, you know...financially I mean."

She was clearly taken aback by this. "And why would you do that...you don't even know me?" She asked looking at him like he'd lost his mind and then it occurred to her what he meant, but was not saying. "I'm not a whore." She said, swallowing hard.

"I didn't call you one."

"Then let me clarify...I won't be _your_ whore."

"It wouldn't be like that." He said, shaking his head.

She laughed at him. But there was nothing remotely funny about what he was suggesting to her. She leaned into the table. "So tell me then, exactly how would it be?"

He was silent.

Bonnie returned to looking out of the window.

"You're making it sound like something ugly when that wouldn't be the case at all...at least not between us. And you'd want for nothing. I promise you that."

Had her life seriously come to this? Because literally like in a blink of an eye, everything had changed.

And sitting there inside of that diner across from a man who was so fucking gorgeous with the bluest eyes she'd ever seen, it almost felt like she was sharing a meal with the devil himself and he was trying to get her to sell her soul.

A chill suddenly ran down Bonnie's spine and she actually shivered. It was time to go home.

Searching through her backpack, she pulled out a ten dollar bill and placed it on top of the table.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll figure things out on my own." Grabbing her things, Bonnie got up to leave.

And as she walked away, Damon would swear he heard her mumble. "Not today, satan."


	4. Chapter 4

It was only at the hospital when sitting by his father's bedside that Damon's mind ceased from all thoughts that normally weighted him down.

Being there always calmed him.

It was his father's presence that had that soothing effect on him, it always did because when Giuseppe was there things got handled. Work got done and their family thrived.

But when he was not, that was when things fell apart.

It constantly plagued Damon that he would not be able to fill his father's shoes. That he was a poor substitute for the real McCoy and that soon everyone would know that he wasn't so smart after all.

That all of that education and grooming that his father poured into him over the years had been for nothing.

He felt like a fraud, masquerading like he knew what he was doing when really all he was doing was acting on instinct.

If it felt right to him then he did it, otherwise he pulled back.

And so far, it was working for him. But really, how long would that last before he fucked up and made the wrong move?

Everything was at stake. The future of the company. His family's livelihood. And it was all on him now, and Damon wasn't ready.

He was only twenty-four.

It was suppose to be years before all of this responsibility was placed at his feet.

Who decided to speed things up?

Because it wasn't fair.

Giuseppe had a good twenty years left in him and then he was supposed to retire and spend his days playing golf and smoking cigars at the country club with his cronies while talking shit and flirting with pretty women.

That was how it was supposed to be. Not this. With his father laying up in a hospital bed fighting to live.

None on this was supposed to be happening.

"Mr. Salvatore."

Being pulled from his thoughts, Damon straightened his position in the uncomfortable chair, immediately feeling the sore muscles in his back, having been sitting for so long.

"It's time for your father's physical therapy."

Damon nodded his head in response, standing to his feet to leave.

Physical therapy was part of his father's treatment to prevent long term muscle damage.

He walked over to the bed. "I'll be back tomorrow, okay."

Leaning down, he kissed his father's bandaged head. "Keep fighting to come back to us. We need you, dad...I need you."

The therapist standing there tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth, her heart melting at the scene.

Damon Salvatore was having quite the effect on the women staff at the hospital. He was all that they talked about. A few of them actually low-key flirting with him, but it was a waste of time because Damon's mind was always on his father when he was therel, so he didn't even notice their efforts.

"Take good care of him." Damon said to the therapist.

"I will, Mr Salvatore. Your father's in good hands."

Nodding his head once again, he left.

Walking out of the ICU, Damon made his way to the elevators and like clockwork once he was away from his father's side his mind started to rev back up again and all he could do was think about everything that needed to be done.

He was a few feet from the elevators when he spotted Bonnie standing in the long hallway speaking to a doctor. It was so unexpected seeing her there that he stopped moving in mid-step.

Damon hadn't seen her since that night at the diner when she walked away from him.

And who could blame her.

His behavior had been deplorable. The things he said to her. The offer he made. It was all just wrong.

What was he thinking?

And the answer to that was, he wasn't thinking at all. At least not with the head sitting between his shoulders.

Damon could literally have any woman that he wanted. He never had a problem in that area.

But he did it because he thought Bonnie would jump at the opportunity. What girl in her position wouldn't? At least that had been his thinking.

But he was proven wrong.

Thinking Bonnie was something that she was not just because she was a stripper.

That was what she did for a living. It wasn't who she was as a person. He misjudged her.

What was that saying about hindsight being twenty-twenty?

Bonnie was nineteen years old and she was providing for her family. Basically doing what he was trying to do for his family.

And that was something to admire, not condemn.

Maybe it was a good thing, her walking away from him because he was self-destructive.

And it looked like Bonnie Bennett had enough on her plate. She didn't need anymore.

He watched her for a few seconds more before going to the elevator and pressing the down button.

* * *

"Ms. Bennett, your sister overdosed. We found traces of crack cocaine and heroine in her system."

Bonnie had been listening intently to every word the doctor said, but that last part through her for a loop.

"Wait a minute, heroine?" Bonnie asked frowning.

The doctor nodded his head.

"But Felicia doesn't do heroine. I mean she hates needles. There must be some mistake. I know my sister. The crack yes...but not heroine."

"There was no mistake Ms. Bennett. The paramedics at the scene had to administer a Narcan injection to your sister, otherwise she would have died."

"What?" Bonnie gasped, covering her mouth. No one told her that.

Bonnie's eyes welled up with tears and slowly slide down her face.

The doctor placed a comforting hand on her slender shoulder.

"Look, she's going to be okay, but you need to get her in some type of drug treatment program or this will happen again...and next time she may not be so lucky."

Bonnie nodded her head, wiping away the tears.

"If you want I can recommend a few treatment programs and some of them are government funded."

"Yes, thank you. I would appreciate that very much."

The doctor nodded his head.

When he left, Bonnie took a deep breath releasing it. Calming herself before she called her mother.

She would not tell her about the heroine. There was only so much that her mother could take and she would spare her this.

* * *

As Bonnie was walking out of the hospital, she saw Dino getting out of his red Mercedes.

He was Tristan's father as well as the man responsible for Felicia's drug use, having been the one to introduce her to that world.

And when her sister lost her looks, no longer that pretty girl she once was, the drug dealer dumped her.

Bonnie knew better than to confront Dino, but at the moment she didn't care because Felicia almost died and it was all his fault!

She actually pushed him when she got close enough. "Stay the fuck away from my sister, you are not wanted here!"

Dino laughed at her feisty display, licking his lips.

He always thought Bonnie was a pretty little thing. The dark skinned man even tried to get with her a few times and she always shot him down.

Bonnie hated his guts.

"I'm sure your sister will be happy to see me...she _loves_ me."

"Well she's a fucking idiot, no thanks to you. You're the reason why she's here in the first place. My sister was fine before she met you and you ruined her, you bastard...and I hope that one day somebody finally puts a fucking bullet in your skull and put you out of your fucking misery!" She spat.

Dino leaned down, getting into her face. "Oh yeah, and whose going to put you out of your misery, huh Bonnie? Jody's been dead what, three years now and you still haven't had another nigga between your legs?"

Bonnie hauled off and slapped his face. "Don't you _ever_ speak his name!"

"Why you little bitch!" Dino's hand instantly moving upward intending to back-slap her.

But the motion was stopped by a very pale hand with an insanely strong grip.

"Didn't your father teach you to never hit a woman?" Damon asked.

"What the fuck, nigga let me go!" Shouted a surprised Dino.

Well that was certainly a first for Damon Salvatore. That was one name he'd never been called before.

"Do you see how small she is and the damage you would have caused had you struck her?" He seethed.

Dino couldn't get over how strong Damon was. He seriously couldn't pry his arm free.

"Look man, she hit me first!"

"I don't fucking care. But you are not to touch her. Do you understand? So get back into your car and driveway before I call the police. I got a feeling that's something you don't need. Am I correct?"

Dino glared at Damon. There was a time and place for everything. And he knew that Atlanta City Police patrolled this hospital.

The white boy was right. He didn't need that.

"Then let me go and I'll be on my way." He said.

Damon let him go and the two men eyed each other with Damon looking like he wasn't going to back down no matter what.

Dino then turned his dark eyes on Bonnie. "You know him?"

She swallowed hard, saying nothing but she gave herself away anyhow.

"Well I'll be damned...you ain't got a nigga between your legs because you're fucking a white boy."

Dino didn't see Damon's fist until it was too late, but by then his face was kissing the ground.

Bonnie gasped. "Oh shit!"

Damon stood over him. "Respect goes a long way in this world. The sooner you learn that, the better."

When Dino saw a tooth lying on the ground, he didn't believe it was his. But then he reached up touching his front teeth and found a gap that wasn't there before and blood marring his fingers. Rage consumed him.

"You're dead motherfucker...you're fucking dead!" He yelled.

Damon ignored the threat, his concerned blue eyes going to Bonnie. "You okay?"

But she was still in shock by what just happened in front of her, so she didn't answer him.

Damon took control of the situation once again. "Come on, let's go." Taking her arm and gently pulling her forward towards his car.

"Where did you come from?" She asked after a moment, her brain finally starting to function properly again.

"My father's here in the ICU. I was about to leave when I saw you and that guy going at it."

"You should have stayed out of it. Dino is dangerous and you just humiliated him. He won't forget that."

"Then let him come for me."

Bonnie stopped walking, yanking her arm free from his grasp. "This is not a game! Where I come from people have died for doing much less! What is wrong with you?!"

"I wasn't going to stand there and let him hit you!"

"But it wasn't your fight! You don't even know me and now you got this crazy asshole gunning for you...and for what, some stupid fantasy that you've built up inside of your mind about me! Well I hate to break it to you Damon Salvatore, but that person who danced for you that night is not _me_...far from it. So get over it!"

Silence.

"Are you done?" Damon asked, his jaw set.

Bonnie couldn't read him, causing confusion inside of her. She swallowed hard. "Yes."

"Then get in the car."

Surprisingly, she did as he said sliding in and he shut the door.

Damon was quiet as he got inside, starting the engine.

Seconds later they were pulling out of the parking lot into traffic. Damon slowing the Porsche to a complete stop when they got to a red light.

"Thank you." Bonnie said quietly, her green eyes facing forward.

Damon's eyes remained in front of him as well. "That was all you had to say."


	5. Chapter 5

"What's your address?" Damon asked, intending to use the GPS to take Bonnie home.

After having been staring ahead for a while Bonnie finally cast her green eyes in Damon's direction getting a nice view of his profile as he drove down the street.

She honestly didn't get him. What was his deal anyway?

Clearly he knew by now that she wasn't interested in him or the _offer_ he made to her and yet he just punched Dino's tooth out of his head for her.

Why?

From experience Bonnie knew that people, men especially, didn't just do _anything_ for _nothing_. There was always a catch somewhere.

"I'm not going to tell you that." She answered.

"Why...you embarrassed or something?" Damon asked, thinking she didn't want him to know she lived in the projects.

Bonnie's head jerked back at his nerve. What a stupid question to ask her, she thought.

"Why would I be embarrassed? I thank God every day for the roof over my head...it's a blessing because some people out here are living on the streets."

Coming to a stop at the red light behind a blue Toyota Corolla, Damon met her unflinching stare and came to the conclusion that she wasn't lying to him. She wasn't embarrassed by where she comes from.

His respect for her grew.

"Then why won't you tell me where you live?"

"Because you don't need to know that information about me. Are you forgetting how we met? What do I look like giving some guy I danced for at the club my home address? Get real."

"So me knocking out that guy back there and defending you meant nothing?"

"But I didn't ask you to do that! _You_ took it upon yourself to jump into my business! So don't expect me to give you a fucking hero cookie and just forget I don't know you from Adam when for all I know you can be just as crazy as that fool Dino who you punched in the face!"

At that point, Damon was seriously over it. He really was because he was tired, his back hurt and the knuckles on his right hand were sore. It was a Saturday, but he still had to go to the office to do some work because he left early on Friday to check his mother into this rehab facility in Sandy Springs.

Having had enough, he just surrendered, letting the shit go. "Fine. Fuck it. Don't tell me were you live then." He said, merging into the left lane so that he could get onto the interstate.

Bonnie sat forward, her hand gripping the dashboard when she realized they were headed north of Atlanta.

"Wait, what are you doing? We're going north...where are you taking me?"

He didn't even look at her. "Since you don't want to go home, it looks like you'll be spending the afternoon with me."

Bonnie's jaw dropped in disbelief. "What? I never said that I didn't want to go home. I just didn't want to tell you were I lived. Just take me to the Marta train station!"

"Too late now. You should have said that before I got on the interstate."

"But that's what exits are made for, so you can get off!"

"Yeah well, we don't always get what we want in this life Bonnie. Remember that. Besides we're five minutes from my office, I'll drop you off at the train station when I'm done."

She sat back in the black leather seat, sulking. This day just kept getting worse.

Glancing at Bonnie out the corner of his eye, Damon could see that she was angry with him.

Even while looking evil ass hell, she was still so pretty.

"So tell me about this Dino guy and why you were all up in his face?" He asked, trying to get her to talk to him instead of giving him the cold shoulder.

"I wasn't all up in his face." She said annoyed.

"Yes you were. I witnessed the whole exchange...what you did back there was really stupid Bonnie. He could have seriously hurt you if I hadn't stepped in."

Bonnie knew he was right and whenever she was in the wrong Bonnie always copped to her mistakes.

She sighed softly. "I know. I wasn't thinking when I saw him...I just reacted."

"What did he do to you?"

"He didn't do anything to me...it was my sister." Thinking about Felicia caused all of these emotions to well back up inside of Bonnie and her eyes filled up with tears, slowly sliding down her face.

"She's the reason why you were at the hospital?" Damon guessed quietly.

Bonnie nodded her head even though Damon was facing forward driving.

"She overdosed last night, but we didn't find out until this morning. I was so mad when I got to the hospital because I had to drop everything I was doing to come see about her. It's always about her... and I was sick of it. But then I found out that she almost died and all of these emotions just hit me at once and I remembered who she was before Dino turned her out and how much I loved her. So when I saw him out in the parking lot, I lost it."

Sniffing softly, she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Damon realized he would have done the same thing had it been his brother. He got off at the next exit and within minutes they were in the business district.

Pulling the shiny black Porsche into the parking garage of a very tall office building, Damon gave a short nod to the security guard at the post who pushed the button lifting up the barricade to let them enter.

Since it was a Saturday the parking garage was practically empty with just a few cars parked here and there.

Cutting the engine, Damon glanced over at Bonnie. "It'd only be for a few hours I promise."

She scoffed with a slight roll of her eyes. "And what am I suppose to do while you work?"

Flipping on the sex appeal like it was nothing, Damon's blue eyes glinted at her. "You just sit back and watch me do my thing... and you won't even have to tip me afterwards."

A slight chuckle escaped from Bonnie's pretty mouth. She shook her head at his ridiculousness.

"Whatever man."

Damon winked at her.

* * *

From the gist of it, Damon was some sort of business developer. At least that was what Bonnie got from it. She didn't really ask a whole lot of questions because Damon was busy doing what he came there to do, working.

So she just sat there and watched. Literally.

And it wasn't that hard to do, nor was it even boring for that manner Bonnie found out because he was so good looking that even the most trivial of tasks seemed fascinating. And he had this ball of wax that he was constantly squeezing, alternating between his hands as some sort of stress reliever and she realized that it had to strength his hands in some way which was why Dino was unable to break the strong grip Damon had on his arm.

A loud growling sound interrupted the quietness of Damon's office. He lifted up his head in surprise.

"Sorry." Bonnie said, almost shyly which made Damon's thick black brows knit together in thought. So now she was embarrassed?

"I haven't had anything to eat all day." She explained.

Bonnie watched as Damon picked up the phone and dialed a number by heart. Two seconds later he was ordering take-out from some Italian restaurant nearby.

"The food will be here in about twenty minutes. Do you think you can wait that long or do you want this granola bar that's in my desk to tied you over until it comes?"

It was such a thoughtful thing to do, which only added to Bonnie's conflicting feelings about him.

Not too long ago, he offered her an indecent proposal willing to pay for her body but today he came to her defense, knocking out Dino for disrespecting her, and she'd been completely alone with him for a while now and not once had he tried anything with her, and now when he found out she was hungry, he immediately ordered food not thinking twice about it.

Who was this guy?

Better yet, did she want to get to know him?

Even just merely thinking about it caused Bonnie to feel immense guilt for betraying Jody's memory.

What right did she have to move on with her life when the boy she thought she'd love forever was buried six feet underground?

"It's okay, I can wait. Thank you."

Nodding his head, Damon got back to work not being able to spare another minute because he had so much to do.

It didn't take long at all for the food to get there. Damon paid the delivery guy and the two sat down at his desk to eat with Bonnie sitting across from him.

"Oh my god, this is so good." She said covering her mouth after having tried the first bite of lasagna. "Is this really that good or am I just hungry?" She asked.

Because everything tasted good to someone who was starving.

"It's really that good." Damon confirmed. "Why do you think I know the number to the restaurant by heart? I eat there at least twice a week."

For a few minutes there was no talking as the two just ate. Enjoying the food.

"Bonnie, who's Jody?" Damon asked after a while, breaking the silence.

So Damon heard that. He did say that he witnessed her and Dino's entire exchange.

She swallowed the food in her mouth before speaking. "He was my boyfriend...he was killed two years ago, an attempted robbery while walking to the bus stop to go home."

"I'm sorry for your loss." He said softly.

"Thanks."

Just then Damon's phone went off of top of the desk. He picked it up and saw that it was his brother, so he answered.

"Hey Stefan."

Bonnie watched the play of emotions on Damon's face and immediately knew that something was wrong.

"What the fuck do you mean she's there? She's supposed to be in rehab!"

Pause while he listened to whatever this Stefan person had to say on the other end.

"Look stay there, I'm on my way!" He said angrily.

Another pause.

"I don't care if she's drunk I said to fucking stay with her, Stef and that's an order. Or your little trip to Vegas for your twenty-first birthday is canceled, you hear me!" Damon yelled into the phone before hanging up.

He grabbed his keys. "Get your bag Bonnie, we're leaving."

Damon left no room for argument, already walking towards the door to leave.

* * *

Within twenty minutes Damon and Bonnie were pulling up into the driveway of this really nice English Manor type brick estate on Northside Drive in Buckhead's Tuxedo Park area.

Cutting the engine Damon jumped out of the car, leaving Bonnie no choice but to follow him.

As soon as they entered the house a loud crash like something being thrown against a wall could be heard from the formal living room just feet away.

"I am your parent, not Damon...so you will do as I say Stefan!" Lilly Salvatore screamed in an drunken rage.

"Look mom, you've had enough to drink just go upstairs and sleep it off, okay. Please!" Stefan begged.

"Go up stairs?! Go upstairs?! Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do in my own got-damn house?! You are my child, not the other way around! Now do as I say and give me the bottle!"

In a moment of desperation to stop his mother from drinking Stefan had grabbed the bottle of Scot out of her hands and she went crazy, even throwing a vase narrowly missing his head.

"I can't do that mom." His voice catching with emotion.

"Why because your big brother told you not to?" She sneered hatefully.

"Because you've had enough, mother." Damon said calmly as he entered the room.

For the first time since getting home and finding his mother there drinking, Stefan Salvatore finally relaxed.

Damon was here and he would take care of everything.

"Now look whose here, it's my eldest son. My first born. The apple of my eye...and the thorn in my side."

When Lilly Salvatore was drunk she became mean and nasty. Hitting where she knew it hurt.

"And don't forget mother, the head of this family."

Not only did Damon take after his mother in his looks, having inherited his jet black hair and stunning blue eyes from her, but he also had Lilly's ways.

He could be just as nasty when provoked.

"You are not the head of this family, Damon Salvatore...your father has not left this earth yet, so you better stay in your place little boy because you are nothing compared to my husband...you're a poor substitute!"

It was like a stake to the heart hearing his mother speak his inner most thoughts. So he struck back just as hard.

"And you are a poor excuse for a wife and a mother, drowning yourself into a bottle of booze instead of being there for your husband and two sons."

Bonnie watched as the dark-haired woman struck Damon, slapping him hard across his face.

"How dare you say that to me?!" She screamed.

And then a second later she crumbled to the ground in tears at his feet.

"How dare you say that to me." She cried. "How dare you."

Damon was unmoved by his mother's drunken tears because tomorrow, she wouldn't remember any of this.

He took the bottle from Stefan's hand. "Take her upstairs and put her to bed."

Stefan did as he was told, bending down to scoop her up into his arms. She was a slender woman. Always had been, so it was an easy task to do.

She continued to cry softly in his arms with her head buried in his neck.

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked softly to Damon before leaving, knowing that their mother's words had cut him deeply.

"I'm fine." He said.

But they both knew he was lying.

Finally taking his leave, Stefan noticed Bonnie for the first time, standing by the entryway. His brows quirked in surprise but he didn't say anything as he walked by not wanting to get his mother roused back up now that she was calm.

Bonnie's green eyes returned to Damon who was just standing there with his back to her.

She didn't know what to say to him or what to do for that matter.

It seemed she wasn't the only one with family issues.

Damon was so quiet that Bonnie suspected he forgot that she was even there, so she went to him, gently touching his arm and he turned to her.

Swallowing hard when she saw the pain in his eyes shining with un-shed tears, her hand slid into his.

It was an unconscious move on Bonnie's part. All she knew was that he was hurting and for some crazy reason she wanted to comfort him.

"I'm sorry." She said lowly, her other hand reaching up to caress his cheek where his mother had struck him.

The whole right side of his face was red.

It shocked her when he leaned into her touch briefly closing his eyes before opening them back up and staring intently into hers. He then gently took hold of her wrist and bringing her hand to his mouth, kissed her palm.

Bonnie's breath caught in her throat, the soft sound bringing Damon's attention to her mouth and within moments he was bending his head, capturing her lips with his.

All Damon knew was that Bonnie's lips were soft and up close she smelled like a mixture of strawberries and vanilla, and he wanted to find out if she tasted just as sweetly as she smelt. He increased the pressure of his lips against hers, giving Bonnie no choice put to open her mouth to him and he wasted no time tasting her with his tongue. And he literally groaned in satisfaction.

Bonnie was so short compared to Damon that she had to stand on her tip-toes just to find some leverage. But that was a mistake as he began to back her against the wall and she almost lost her footing before his arm circled around her waist to keep her steady.

Never in life had Bonnie experienced something so intense, not even with Jody.

Jody.

Oh god, what the hell was she doing?

Bonnie practically tore her mouth away from Damon's. "No, I can't do this!"

Damon rested his forehead against hers, breathing heavily into her face. Willing himself to calm down.

"Can you just take me home, please?"

He looked into her pleading green eyes.

It had been a very long, trying day for the both of them with each of them being wrecked in their own way.

So Damon would do as Bonnie asked, effectively letting her run from _this thing_ happening between them.

But only for tonight would he let her get away with that.

Not wanting to end things on a sour note, Damon decided some humor was just what the doctor ordered.

With his blue eyes gleaming playfully. "Oh so _now_ , you want me to take you home."


	6. Chapter 6

Abby Bennett was bi-racial. On the color spectrum, she leaned more towards the paler side of black, but not quite passable for white.

As a little girl, from the moment she realized that she was different from those around her, her life changed and she became very self aware.

Being not quite black and definitely not white, she grew up hating herself because she didn't belong. She didn't fit in anywhere.

People wouldn't let her, on either side. Black or white.

Had Abby not lived in the small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia then maybe things would have been different for her and she wouldn't have suffered so much.

It was one of the reasons why she ran away from home at just sixteen years old and married Rudy Hopkins. Luckily Abby was smart enough not to take his last name because deep down inside she knew that the marriage wouldn't last.

Just like with Bonnie and along with the rest of the women in the Bennett family, Abby had a sort of sixth sense about things.

Again, she wasn't psychic, but she had really strong _feelings_ about things and if something didn't feel right in her gut then it wasn't.

Rudy was tall with an athletic build, but most importantly his skin was beautifully black and Abby loved that about him because she knew her children would inherit the melanin that she was lacking and would never have to suffer the life she had growing up not knowing what the hell they were.

But it seemed as if history was determined to repeat itself with her baby-girl and start the cycle all over again.

It shook Abby to her core when she witnessed Bonnie sitting in Damon's black Porsche.

She could see them clearly from where she was standing by her bedroom window because they were parked directly in front of the apartment just a few feet away.

Watching intently as this man that she didn't know reach over, touching her daughter's chin and making her look at him.

Abby knew that it would happen eventually because Bonnie had that type of natural prettiness that drew attention.

She was the type of pretty black girl that professional athletes in the NFL or NBA married...light skinned with pretty eyes.

And though she was a stripper, Bonnie was smart and didn't waste herself on these neighborhood niggas going nowhere fast like Felicia had, but not once in Abby's vision did she see her youngest daughter getting involved with someone white.

Seeing Bonnie with this man brought back a lot of hurtful memories of her mother, Sheila and the shit she went through with her father.

She didn't want that for Bonnie. Life was hard enough without adding additional problems on top of it.

Still standing at the window in the darkened room, Abby saw the man holding a phone and then seconds later handing it to Bonnie and then she got out of the car.

She watched him, watching her baby-girl and when Bonnie was safely inside of the house only then did he pull out of the parking space and drive away.

* * *

"Mama, if Felicia won't go to rehab then she can't come back here. I mean it. I'm not going to put Tristan through that."

Bonnie and Abby were sitting in the living room folding clean laundry with the television on in the background while Tristan was outside playing on the porch with his little friends.

"She needs somewhere to stay Bonnie until she gets better."

"But that's the thing, she won't get better until she gets the help she needs."

"We are her family and family sticks together no matter what."

Bonnie shook her head, disagreeing with that. "Not this time, I'm sorry...there's too much at stake and since I'm the one paying all the bills around here what I say goes and Felicia cannot stay here once she's released from the hospital."

Abby lost it. There was just too much going on and she wasn't in control of anything anymore and she hated feeling so helpless.

"Don't you disrespect me girl...I may not be able to work anymore, but I am still your mother Bonnie Bennett!"

"I know that." Bonnie said calmly, swallowing hard.

"Then stop always throwing it up in my face the fact that you pay the bills now! Who do you think you are? I'm the one who took care of you and your sister when your father left us! I worked my ass off for years for you two girls, putting a roof over your heads, clothes on your back and food in your belly and don't you ever forget it!"

"I know!"

"Then respect me!" Abby yelled.

"I do!"

Abby sadly shook her head, the anger from moments before now gone. Now she was just feeling hurt.

"No you don't...not anymore Bonnie. Not after you had to give up your spot at the Alvin Ailey School of Ballet because I got hurt at work and needed someone to take care of me full time."

Bonnie was about to deny it, when Abby stopped her. "Don't lie because I know it's true." Her voice catching on a sob. "I took away all of your dreams and put you in the position you are in now...and I'm sorry."

When Abby started to cry Bonnie couldn't take it and she began to cry as well, going to her mother she knelt before her, taking her hands.

"I don't care about all of that anymore. It's in the past, you hear me! The only thing that matters to me right now is you and Tristan. That's it."

"But your life would have been so different if I hadn't ruined everything."

"Stop it. You didn't ruin anything. If it was meant to be then it would have happened, point blank."

"But it was your dream to be a professional ballet dancer, Bonnie." She cried, caressing her face. "Not working in a strip club."

Bonnie couldn't take the conversation any more. She bowed her head, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Stop. Please. I can't think about what could have been because it'll drive me crazy, mama." Pulling her self together, she returned her mother's gaze. Hers now determined. "This is my life and I've accepted that, now you must too."

"But it doesn't have to be, does it sweet girl?"

The nineteen year old frowned at the woman in front of her. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw you last night getting out of that fancy sports car. Who is he, Bonnie?"

She pulled away, standing to her feet. "No one." She said, walking away and began placing the folded clothes into the laundry basket.

"Then why were you in his car?"

"Because he gave me a ride home." She answered simply.

"I'm not stupid, you know. I saw the way he was looking at you. The way he touched you."

The two women's eyes met and held.

Bonnie sighed after a moment, giving in. She always did, not being able to hide anything from her mother.

"His name is Damon Salvatore. I met him at the club..I danced for him. And now he's infatuated with me. Nothing more, nothing less. End of story."

"From the looks of that car, he has money."

Bonnie turned away from Abby's knowing gaze and went back to putting the clothes in the basket.

"He does. And you know what else he has...a big fancy house in Buckhead with an alcoholic mother and a gay younger brother."

Though maybe she shouldn't have said that, Bonnie thought.

But she was 99.9% sure that Stefan Salvatore was gay. He had that _vibe_ about him.

There was a sudden knock at the front door.

Both women turned their heads at the exact same time and saw a somewhat nervous looking white guy standing at the screen-door holding flowers.

Clearly he wasn't used to making delivers in this type of neighborhood.

"Can I help you?" Bonnie asked when she came to the door, thinking he must have the wrong address.

"Aw yes, I have a delivery for a Ms. Bonnie Bennett."

Her green eyes widened in surprise. This was a first for her, no one ever sending her flowers before.

"I'm she." She said, coming outside to stand on the porch.

"Then can you sign for these." He said, giving her the electronic pad.

Bonnie did and he handed her the flowers before taking his leave.

Abby came outside to join her daughter on the porch."Oh my god, Bonnie they're so beautiful. Who sent them?" She asked.

"I don't know there's no card."

"Yes there is honey." Abby said spotting it, having fell inside of the bouquet. She carefully picked it out, holding up to read.

 _"These made me think of you, Damon."_

Abby looked at her daughter. "He's no one, right?"

"Absolutely no one at all." Bonnie said determinedly.

* * *

Bonnie began working at the Pleasure Palace, _A Gentleman's Club_ , a couple of weeks ago.

It was located in the heart of downtown Atlanta and compared to The Black Diamond it was upscale with a more diverse clientele.

And because this place was more upscale, they followed the rules unlike Terry who just simply took Bonnie's word that she was twenty-one and hired her on the spot.

But here, Bonnie had to whip out her trusty fake ID in order to apply for a job.

The owner of the Pleasure Palace was a low key racist. Wanting to make America _great again_ in the words of 45.

His name was Ric Saltzman and he hired Bonnie, not as a dancer but as a server.

It wasn't until her first night working there that Bonnie peeped what was going on.

Only the white girls danced, she found out. And they were all blonde with blue eyes and big fake titties.

While Ric hired attractive black girls to serve drinks dressed in throwback 1960's style Playboy Bunny outfits.

It was the damnedest thing.

It was so blatant and in your face, racism at its finest that even 45 would have approved.

Bonnie would have bounced that first night working there, but she was actually making good money and all she was doing was serving drinks, basically waiting tables.

Where was the sin in that?

Granted, she was half naked while doing it, but all of her essential parts were covered up.

Having finished her shift for the night, Bonnie made her way back into the employee dressing room so that she could take off her Bunny outfit and go home.

She'd gotten her car out of the shop two days ago, so once she changed clothes all she had to do was jump into her ride and go.

No more riding Marta for her. Thank God.

Standing in front of her locker, Bonnie slid the strapless corset teddy down her body, stepping out of it and neatly folded the garment in half and placed it on the top shelf so it wouldn't wrinkle.

She then carefully removed the bunny ears because the barrette hurt her head, it was so tight.

Bonnie stood there for a few seconds massaging the soreness from her scalp, dressed in only a thong and heels with her breasts bare.

The door to the dressing room opened and then closed,but Bonnie didn't hear it unaware that Ric was standing there, watching her.

Ric Saltzman was a good looking guy at six feet one with dirty blond hair and a scruffy beard.

But he was a creep of the highest order, so his looks were null and void.

The asshole cleared his throat making his presence known, getting a sick sense of satisfaction when Bonnie jumped in fright, her perky young breasts jiggling enticingly from the movement.

She quickly reached inside of the locker and grab the tee shirt laying there, covering up her chest.

"What are you doing in here? I'm changing my clothes." She said, clearly upset.

"I wanted to talk to you." He said moving closer.

Bonnie swallowed hard, an uneasy feeling creeping over her. "Okay, just let me get dressed first and we'll talk outside when I'm done."

He didn't turn to leave. "You know, I'm really glad I hired you. You're doing a good job, Bonnie."

"T-Thanks." She said.

"You are a very pretty girl, you know that." He said, while reaching out to touch a strand of her hair.

Bonnie took a step back. "Don't touch me."

"Be nice." He said in reproach and then without warning ripped the tee shirt from her.

Bonnie gasped, crossing her arms over her breasts to shield them from his hungry gaze.

Ric grabbed her regardless, pulling her to his chest and then bending forward, roughly kissed her mouth.

Bonnie couldn't breathe. And he was hurting her. She tried to push him off, but she couldn't.

So she clawed her nails down his face.

Ric instantly let her go. "You stupid bitch!" He yelled, grabbing his cheek and when he pulled his hand away and saw the blood, he was enraged.

Raising the back of his other hand, he slapped her. Hard.

The force of the slap was so great that Bonnie was literally knocked off her feet, falling to the ground.

"Get your shit and get out of my club, you're fired!" He yelled, standing over her.

It felt like her face was on fire. Bonnie had never been struck before. She was in shock.

She heard Ric walking away, calling her a stupid nigger before slamming the door closed.

Slowly Bonnie got to her feet, her legs trembling.

Her first thought was to call the police to report the assault, but then she remembered all the reasons why that would be a stupid thing to do with the main one being that she was underage and had no business working inside of that club in the first place.

The police would only pry into her life.

It wasn't worth the hassle.

* * *

Bonnie was busy securing Tristan in the car seat outside in the parking lot of her apartment complex, so she didn't see when Damon parked his Porsche next to her car.

"Can we stop by the library today and check out some more books?" Tristan asked sweetly.

The reason why the four year old was so smart was because Bonnie read to him every day since he was little.

"Not today, sweetie because we won't have time. I'll take you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay." He agreed easily.

Bonnie finally got him strapped in.

"I was thinking that I would at least get a phone call from you, thanking me for the flowers but no dice. Your rudeness is inexcusable considering I programmed my number into your phone myself the other night."

Bonnie turned around and when Damon saw her face all the playfulness left him.

"Who did this to you?" He asked, gently lifting her chin when his voice was anything but as he inspected the bruise and slight discoloration underneath Bonnie's left eye.

She pulled his hand away. "It's not your problem Damon."

"Was it Dino?" He asked angrily.

"How do you know my dad?" Tristan asked curiously, reminding the two adults of his presence.

Bonnie moved out from the open car door, closing it shut.

"Damon stop it, I mean it! You have no business being here."

"You are my business!" He shot back.

"Since when?" She asked heatedly. Did she miss something here? "Look, I am not your fucking problem to fix...I don't need you!"

"I didn't say you did!"

"It's how you're acting, Damon! All territorial and shit, like you have some sort of claim on me and I don't like it... I'm sick of you entitled white bastards sniffing after me like a bunch of wild dogs in heat! I don't want your fucking attention, so leave me alone!" She yelled angrily.

Damon watched as Bonnie got into the car, starting the engine.

He didn't try to stop her. Just standing there as she drove away.

"It wasn't Dino." Abby said from behind him.

Damon swung around to face her.

"I'm Bonnie's mother. It wasn't Dino who attacked her. It was Ric Saltzman, the owner of the Pleasure Palace. He tried to rape her last night in the employee dressing room, but my baby fought back and he fired her. So you have the bastard's name and where he works, Mr. Salvatore...now make him pay for hurting my daughter."

The two stared at each other long and hard coming to a silent understanding.

"Yes ma'am, consider it done."


	7. Chapter 7

Sitting at the vanity in her bedroom, Bonnie carefully applied some makeup to her face.

Over the years, she'd gotten good at putting it on, but hated actually wearing it, not liking how it felt on her skin.

It felt like she was wearing a mask.

Which tonight was a good thing because she would be playing a role and needed to distance herself in some way from what she was about to do.

What she had to do.

Her face was void of any emotion while she stared into the mirror applying the different products, beating her face until it looked airbrushed flawless.

She looked beautiful. The makeup only enhancing her looks.

Only when she was satisfied with the results did she finally stand, dressed in a matching red bra and panty set she got from Victoria's Secret.

She slipped on a pair of five inch heels.

Putting on the fitted trench coat to cover her barely there ensemble, she tied the belt around her waist.

* * *

Bonnie had no problems getting into the building, the security guard remembering her from the last time she was there.

Her heart was pounding really hard inside of her chest as she rode up the elevator, but she ignored it.

Just like the last time she was there, the office was empty. People having gone home after a long day of working.

All except for him. The boss.

She could see the light coming from his office door which was open.

Bonnie paused when she got to the threshold.

Damon was sitting at the desk with his head down, his face practically buried in a stack of papers in front of him.

His jacket was off, and the sleeves of his shirt were folded up over his forearms.

Bonnie could tell he was tired, but he was trying to push through it because it looked as if he literally had a mountain of work to do.

She cleared her throat, making Damon look up and his blue eyes widened in surprise at seeing her there. For a minute, he thought he was hallucinating.

Bonnie opened the trench coat, revealing what she wore underneath, letting it fall to the floor and she came around the desk.

Damon leaned back into the chair and she straddled him, making herself comfortable on his lap.

"You look like you could use a break." She said, undoing the knot to his tie.

Damon licked his lips, his breathing becoming somewhat labored. "Bonnie, what are you doing?"

She pressed her chest against him as she slid the tie from around his collar.

"What do you think I'm doing...isn't it obvious?" Softly kissing the edge of his mouth.

Damon closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.

She was so soft and warm, her body feeling so good pressed against him and she smelled phenomenal, her perfume as seductive as what she was wearing.

And that's when something clicked inside of Damon's head, his eyes blinking open.

Every encounter he'd had with Bonnie outside of the club he distinctly remembered her smelling of a body wash, not perfume.

And not once during those times was she wearing makeup either.

Everything about this just felt wrong to him.

This wasn't Bonnie. She was putting on an act like when she danced at the strip club. But why?

Damon became still.

"What's wrong, baby? I thought this was what you wanted. Me like this... with you." She began unbuttoning his shirt.

His jaw tensed with anger. "Stop."

She didn't.

Her tiny hands slipping inside of his shirt, resting her palms against his chest. The muscles there flexing in response to her touch.

Without warning Damon grabbed both of her wrists forcing her to stop touching him.

Theirs eyes locking.

Bonnie swallowed the huge knot that had formed inside of her throat. "Damon, you're hurting me."

"Why are you dressed like this with that shit on your face? This isn't you. You told me so that day at the hospital, out in the parking lot. You said that this person wasn't the real you, far from it. So why are you here?"

There was no use in lying to him, so she simply told the truth. "I don't have enough money to pay the rent. It's due in two days."

Now everything made sense to him.

Damon needed a moment away from her to clear his head so that he could think and he couldn't do that with her straddling his lap.

His dick getting hard even though he was angry.

He released her wrists.

"Go wash that makeup off your face. You don't need it. The bathroom's right over there." He said with the tilt of his head, indicating its location.

Damon gave her no choice, so Bonnie did as he said, getting up from his lap.

She could feel his eyes on her back as she crossed the room.

As soon as Bonnie shut the door, Damon leaned back against the chair, closing his eyes. Taking in and releasing a long deep breath.

Bonnie was right there for the taking and yet he couldn't bring himself to do it, not like this with her giving herself to him only because she needed the money.

Maybe in the beginning this would have been fine with him, but not now Damon realized.

This was not how he wanted to begin things with her.

With his mind made up, Damon knew what he was going to do, but first he needed a couple of answers to his questions.

Five minutes later, Bonnie came out of the bathroom with a clean face and Damon noticed off the bat her lack of eye contact with him.

From where he was sitting he could see that the bruising just below her left eye had healed, her skin back to its normal color.

He watched as she gracefully picked up the coat from off the floor, slipping it on to cover herself. Her head bowed.

"Were you really going to fuck me for money?"

Raising her head, Bonnie looked him square in the eyes, her gaze unwavering. "What do you think, Damon? I showed up at your office after hours dressed in my underwear and a pair of heels... I was going to do what I had to." She said honestly.

No one was hiring for dancers, so Bonnie wasn't able to find work to make some quick money in time to pay the rent and Abby's disability check only went so far with most of it going towards her seizure medications that Medicaid didn't cover.

Damon asked his second question. "And had you not needed the money, would you have even called me otherwise?"

Gawd, why did he have to ask her that.

Bonnie was a ball of emotions on the inside. Feeling hurt, angry and confused all at once.

It was just one thing after another being thrown at her and she didn't know how much more she could take before she cracked.

"Why do you even need to know that? What does it matter? I was prepared to fuck you. I thought that's what you wanted."

"It's not. Not anymore." He told her quietly.

Bonnie nodded her head, no longer being able to look at him as her eyes welled up with tears because he was her last hope.

Her family was counting on her and she failed them.

Maybe she shouldn't have fought back that night and just let Ric rape her, at least then she would still have a job and a roof over their heads.

Now everything was just fucked up. And it was all her fault.

"Fine...I'll leave then."

"Did I say that I wanted you to leave?" He asked stopping her when turned towards the door.

Bonnie whirled back around about to give him a piece of her mind when she saw him writing out a check.

She froze.

"This should be enough to cover you until you get your first pay check."

"What?" She asked, clearly confused.

"There's an opening here for a clerical assistant...you'll mostly be doing data entry work inputting files into our new computerized system. You start Monday morning. Eight o'clock sharp. You'll be working under Liz, my father's secretary. She'll train you."

So many thoughts ran through Bonnie's mind trying to make sense of what was happening.

Damon was giving her a job working for him? Did she hear him correctly?

"Okay." She responded after a moment, not knowing what else to say.

The corner of Damon's mouth tilted up into a crooked smile. He handed her the check.

Bonnie didn't move to take it. Still processing everything.

"Do you want my arm to fall off?"

That famous scene between Diana Ross and Billy D. Williams from _Lady Sings the Blues_ popped into Bonnie's mind and that's exactly how this moment felt to her. Like something out of a movie. Things like this didn't happen in real life.

Bonnie had struggled for so long, hustling for money that this opportunity to earn an honesty living for her family felt unreal to her.

There had to be a catch somewhere.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked. Needing to know now before she got her hopes up.

Damon got up from behind the desk, going to stand in front of her. "Because I want to help you that's why...and before that mind of yours starts jumping to the wrong conclusions. There's absolutely no strings attached to this offer. None at all. But just like with any job, there's a 90 day probation period. If things work out the position is yours along with the benefits. And that's it."

Damon held up the check.

Bonnie reached for it, taking it from his hand. "Thank you."

"Don't be late, Ms. Bennett."

Bonnie bit her bottom lip, trying not to smile as she stared up at him. All of a sudden feeling shy around Damon.

"I won't Mr. Salvatore."

Damon nodded his head. "Then I'll see you Monday."

* * *

It took a few months, but the Pleasure Palace was audited by the IRS.

It seemed that Ric Saltzman wasn't paying his taxes.

So the government seized all of his assets which included the club, Ric's home and his bank account.

He was financially ruined.

And now he was about to lose his freedom, having been found guilty of tax evasion. Awaiting sentencing to a federal prison.

Ric would never make the connection between his downfall and his attack on Bonnie Bennett.

Damon Salvatore may have been young, but he was just like his father. No one to mess with.

* * *

So much had changed for Bonnie and her family in the last five months.

Tristan was in preschool and he loved it.

All he talked about was his teacher Mrs. Blake and the kids in his classroom.

He was able to identify the letters of the alphabet and count to one hundred. He knew how to say his address and telephone number. And was now learning how to print his first and last name.

Bonnie was so proud of him as if he was her own child.

And after having resisted for a while, Felicia finally went into a six month drug treatment program.

She had a month and a half to go in rehab before she could come home.

Bonnie didn't say it, but she was nervous about Felicia moving back into the apartment, while Abby was excited, already getting things ready for her oldest daughter even though she had six more weeks of inpatient treatment.

But other than that things were going good for Bonnie, especially at her new job.

She passed the 90 day probation period and was officially a full-time employee at Salvatore Investment Inc.

When Bonnie first started, she was so nervous because she'd never had a real job before and she was afraid of failing, putting a whole lot of unnecessary pressure on herself when there was no need to.

She just didn't want to fuck up the opportunity she'd been given. Not wanting Damon to regret hiring her.

Damon.

The two of them were in a weird space.

There was an undeniable attraction between them that only strengthened with time, but neither one of them acted upon it.

It was so crazy because in the beginning Bonnie wanted nothing to do with him. She saw Damon as a threat to Jody's memory so she pushed him away because she was unable to let go of the past.

And then when that thing happened with Ric, it only compounded Bonnie's feelings of not wanting to be pursued by any man.

But with time came healing.

And as Bonnie worked along side Damon day in and day out, she was slowly getting to know him and found herself being drawn to him.

Bonnie wouldn't say that she had a crush, feeling like she was too old to be using such a term because in her mind crushes were for silly teenage girls and she was three weeks shy of her twentieth birthday, so that didn't apply to her.

But Bonnie did have feelings for Damon. She was now able to at least admit that to herself.

The question was, what was she going to do about it.

A big part of her not wanting to do anything at all, too afraid of rocking the boat and jeopardizing a good thing they had going.

Was it really worth it?

* * *

It was Friday, which meant that Liz had the day off.

So when Bonnie came into the office, she was the one who had to get Damon's coffee ready and make sure that the mail was on his desk ready to be opened.

She would also have to answer all of the calls herself and order Damon's lunch, all the while trying to do the job she was initially hired for, so Friday's were very busy for Bonnie.

Damon came into the office at nine o'clock sharp like he did every morning.

He stopped by her desk, grabbing a fun-size Twix bar from the jar that she kept there. Bonnie had a serious sweet tooth and now so did Damon.

"I need the sugar rush." He said, opening the candy right there and biting into it.

Bonnie laughed. "Geez, the day's just beginning. I hate to see what you're going to be like at noon. Should I be worried?"

Damon smiled down at her.

Bonnie had changed her hair from ombre back to its natural black color, wanting to have a more professional appearance at work and the change was staggering.

Suiting her facial features much more, especially her green eyes, making them pop.

She was absolutely gorgeous.

"There's no need to worry, I'll be fine. Just keep this jar well stocked."

"Will do." She smiled.

"Is my coffee on the desk?"

"It is and also your mail."

"Perfect." He said, grabbing another Twix.

* * *

The day went by pretty fast and in no time at all it was one o'clock in the afternoon.

Bonnie was just about to order Damon's lunch when she got interrupted by an unexpected visitor.

"Well you're not Liz. It looks like Salvatore is finally cleaning house, ushering out the old and bringing in some new fresh young blood. I must say I don't mind the upgrade at all. What's your name, love? Mine is Klaus." He said, taking her hand and kissing it.

"Allow me to whisk you away to Paris, where all we would do is drink champagne and eat caviar while making love until we both are sore from pleasure."

Bonnie's eyes widened in shock, and she almost laughed but Damon came out of his office at that exact moment.

"Will you please refrain from harassing my employee. She's new here and we don't want to scare her off."

"But I'm in love, Salvatore...but this gorgeous creature refuses to tell me her name and its killing me softly like a snake's venom to my system."

Damon rolled his eyes, used to Klaus' theatrics but still annoyed by them.

"Her name is Bonnie, now let go of her hand so that she can get back to work."

"Aww Bonnie." Klaus sighed dramatically in his British accent. "It's a fitting name because you are indeed beautiful...I would drink your dirty bathwater and walk barefoot on broken glass just to make you love me."

Bonnie couldn't help it, she laughed and it sounded so amused as well as flirtatious.

"Alright Klaus that's quite enough. Bonnie will you please hold all of my calls and everything else, so that I can find out why this idiot is here to see me."

"Okay, no problem."

Klaus kissed Bonnie's hand once again before releasing her. "Parting is such sweet sorrow. Until we meet again beautiful one." Leaving her desk to walk into Damon's office.

Bonnie's eyes followed after him with a smile still on her face, until Damon stepped into her line of vision as he closed the office door, their gazes holding.

He didn't look too happy with her.

* * *

The two men stayed held up inside Damon's office for hours with Klaus not leaving until a little past four o'clock.

He stopped at Bonnie's desk. "I'm going to be in Atlanta for a few days and I would love to take you out, Bonnie."

Her eyes widened because she realized that he was being serious, no longer playing around.

Seeing Damon standing by his office door out the corner of her eye, her gaze flickered to his.

She could tell by the stiffness of his posture that he heard Klaus asking her out. He closed his office door, giving them some privacy.

Bonnie swallowed hard.

"So what do you say, beautiful one. Will you go out with me?" He asked.

There was no doubt about it, Klaus Mikaelson was a good looking man with his short curly blonde hair and blue eyes. And he was definitely entertaining with his sexy British accent.

But he wasn't who Bonnie wanted.

She didn't even have to think about it. "No. I can't...I'm sorry."

"So, you're involved with someone then?" He asked, clearly disappointed.

Bonnie had to resist looking towards Damon's closed office door. "Something like that...it's complicated."

"Well, I hope that whoever he is, he deserves you."

Bonnie gave him a tiny smile.

"Good-bye beautiful one. It was a pleasure to meet you." He said taking her hand for the last time and kissing it.

And then he was gone.

Bonnie sat at her desk until it was four-thirty waiting to see if Damon would come out of his office.

He didn't.

She logged off of her computer. It was time to go home.

She glanced towards Damon's office one last time. Then gathering up the nerve she walked over to the closed door, knocking first.

"Come in." She heard.

Softly pushing the door open, Bonnie saw Damon sitting behind the desk, working. He didn't look up.

"You missed lunch, do you want me to order you something before I leave?"

"No, I'm good...I'm not hungry." He said still with his head down.

Bonnie just stood there, not knowing what to do but she didn't want to leave for the weekend with this strange vibe between them.

So she just said what was on her mind. "I told Klaus no."

Damon stopped writing, placing down the pen in his hand as he finally gave her his attention.

"I'm very grateful to you and all you've done for me. And I just want you to know that I would never do anything to jeopardize that."

Damon and Bonnie's eyes held, but she was the first to look away when his eyes became too much to take.

"Have a good weekend, okay." She said about to turn to leave.

"Bonnie?"

She stopped, turning back to him. "Yes?"

"I really like your hair like that. Klaus was right. You look beautiful."

Bonnie smiled at the compliment. "Thanks. I didn't think you noticed."

"I notice everything." _About you._

She chuckled. "Don't I know it. I swear I double check everything now since I've been working for you."

Damon laughed. "Hey, I'm not that bad!"

"Oh my god Damon, yes your are...not only are your eyes pretty, but they're microscopic as well, picking up the tiniest details!"

Wait, did she just tell Damon that his eyes were pretty? Bonnie blushed.

Okay, it was definitely time to leave."I'm gonna go home now. Goodnight."

Bonnie was in such a rush to get out of there before she said anything else embarrassing that she turned in the wrong direction and proceeded to walk straight into the wall.

Both of them burst into laughter.

That weird vibe between them gone.


	8. Chapter 8

"Bonnie, why aren't you dressed for work?" Abby asked her daughter when she saw her still wearing her nightgown.

"I just got off the phone with Liz, Damon's father died last night so we won't be working today."

Bonnie went to sit down at the kitchen table, her phone still clutched in the palm of her right hand.

All she could think about was Damon and wanting to call him, but it felt like she'd be overstepping her bounds.

The two of them had been circling around each other for months now with each one waiting for the other to make the first move and therefore nothing was happening.

And they each had their reasons for not taking the plunge and getting things moving along.

For his part, Damon didn't want Bonnie to feel like she owed him anything.

It was a tricky situation that they were in and now that he was her boss it further complicated things, so it was easy for the lines to get blurred and he didn't want that to happen.

And as for Bonnie, it was more simple.

She'd never been in this type of situation before and just didn't know how to go about making things happen between them without coming off like some slut.

She'd only been in one relation her whole life and it was in high school.

Her and Jody were just kids, but this thing with Damon was on a different level. The intensity of it all was something she hadn't experience before, so she was waiting for him to take the lead and push things forward between them.

The problem was Damon wasn't doing so.

In fact, he wasn't doing anything at all and Bonnie didn't know why.

It was confusing.

* * *

Bonnie dropped Tristan off at school and drove back home in the silence of her car, praying for Damon and his family knowing things probably weren't too good at the Salvatore home this morning.

Parking her little 2003 black Jetta in front of their apartment, she just sat inside of the vehicle trying to decide what to do.

Making up her mind to call him, she reached inside of her purse for her phone.

Bonnie ended up getting his voicemail.

Clearing her throat, she waited for the beep to leave a message.

"Liz called and told me about your father passing away last night...I'm so sorry for your loss Damon. If there's anything I can do...or if you just want to talk I'll be home all day."

And not knowing what else to say she ended the call.

* * *

With the apartment already clean the only thing that Bonnie really had to do was some laundry, so she spent the morning washing clothes. They didn't have a dryer so she had to hang them outside on the clothesline in the backyard. But that was fine with her because she liked how fresh the clothes smelled after being dried in the sunshine.

Around noon, Bonnie and Abby were sitting in the living room watching the news when someone knocked on the front door.

Bonnie got up from off the sofa and looking out the window as she walked by, she spotted the black Porsche parked next to her car.

"Oh my god, it's Damon."

So many thoughts ran through her mind in those few seconds it took for her to reach the door and open it.

And then there he was silently standing there and all thoughts ceased as she pushed the screen door open, stepping outside onto porch and not saying anything just wrapped her arms around his neck.

Damon closed his eyes.

The warmth of her small body enveloped him, taking away some of the chill that had settled into his bones.

She was the first to pull away, taking his hand. "Come inside."

Damon and Abby's eyes met as Bonnie led him into the apartment and he acknowledged her with the nod of his head.

"I'm sorry to hear about your father." She said.

"Thank you."

Bonnie squeezed his hand comfortingly. "Mama, we're gonna go to my room." She said, wanting some privacy thinking the reason why he came there was to talk.

With her hand still in his, she led Damon to her bedroom, closing the door once they were inside.

She watched him taking everything in as he looked around, wondering what he was thinking, but then he turned and she suddenly became the focus of his attention.

It made Bonnie's heart beat faster the way he was looking at her.

His eyes lowered to her chest.

Bonnie was no longer wearing a bra, having taken it off earlier to be washed. So there was a good chance that he could probably see her titties through the tank top she wore.

She tried to distract him by getting him to talk. "I'm glad you came. I've been thinking about you all morning."

Damon didn't say a word, instead bending his head to kiss her. He grabbed a handful of Bonnie's right breast, squeezing it a little to hard as he forced his tongue between her lips.

His kiss was overpowering and sloppy, his mouth tasting of alcohol.

Bonnie pushed at his chest, breaking away and she wiped her mouth in disgust.

Damon licked his lips, his eyes remaining glued to her luscious lips which were now even more plump because of his kiss.

Bonnie didn't understand where all of this was coming from. This wasn't him. "I thought you came here to talk."

"You thought wrong." Lowering his head, he kissed her once more but this time with his hand cupping the back of her neck so she couldn't move.

When he finally released her to breathe, Bonnie reached out to gently touch his face. This was not how it was supposed to be between them.

"No Damon...not like this. I know you didn't come here for that. I know you're hurting right now, so please just talk to me. " Her eyes pleading with him.

Damon pulled away from her touch, his blue eye glinting with what looked to be anger, but then he laughed and it threw Bonnie off at his sudden mood change.

"Right, I forgot who I was dealing with. Let's see how fast your _no_ turns into a _yes_." He reached for his wallet.

Bonnie frowned in confusion for a split second and then she realized what he was about to do.

Her spine stiffened.

He pulled out some money.

"How much?"

Bonnie closed her eyes because it hurt too much to look at him. Never in her life had anyone made her feel as low as she did in that moment.

How was it possible for him to make her feel so cheap?

Hugging her body in a self protective manner, she opened her eyes and they were shining with tears.

"I see you're a mean drunk just like your mother." She uttered, swallowing hard.

Pointing an angry finger at her, Damon lashed out. "Hey, lay off that Bonnie, I mean it...don't talk about my fucking mother like that!"

"Oh, so let me get this straight. I can't disrespect your mother, but you can disrespect mine by trying to fuck me while she's literally sitting down the hall watching TV?"

Damon knew Bonnie was right and therefore he didn't say another word.

He sniffed instead.

And Bonnie wouldn't have thought anything of it had his hand not moved over his nose in a certain way that sent alarm bells going off inside of her head.

Bonnie froze.

No it couldn't be, was her first thought. She kept telling herself no, that it was impossible. Not Damon.

Bonnie suddenly moved from where she was standing by the door, closing the space between them, and she grabbed a hold of Damon's face, staring into his eyes.

They were bloodshot.

It could have been from crying all night, but Bonnie's gut was telling her otherwise.

She refused to believe it.

But she needed to know.

"Please tell me that you don't sniff coke."

Damon pulled away from her with a guilty look on his face and Bonnie saw it before he turned away, and still she didn't want to believe it.

"I'm not a fucking junkie like your sister if that's what you're thinking...I only do it occasionally."

With her worst fear confirmed, Bonnie felt like she'd just been punched in the gut.

"Oh my god." She whispered.

Damon couldn't take the disappointment in Bonnie's voice. Her reaction to his confession stifling him. He wanted to leave.

"You know what, I don't have time for this shit right now." And he made a move to go, causing Bonnie to snap out of it. She boldly grabbed his arm.

"You're not going anywhere...you've been drinking and your high off of coke! It's a miracle that you didn't kill yourself or anyone else for that matter driving behind the wheel fucked up!"

Damon easily snatched his arm from her grasp. He got in her face, his mouth curled up in a hateful sneer. "Oh yeah and how do you plan to stop me?"

Bonnie said the first thing that entered her mind.

"I'll call 911 and report you for driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. I'll give them the make and model of your car...even your license plate number which is BAM1455...now give me your keys."

Bonnie withstood Damon's harsh glare until he was the one to give in, holding up his keys.

She took them.

"Fucking bitch." He hissed nastily into her ear.

Bonnie lifted her chin, keeping Damon's stare. "Maybe, but at least I'm not a fucking junkie like you."

"I'm not a junkie!" Damon yelled.

"Well, I don't care what you are. Just sleep it off, so you can get the hell out of my apartment."

Damon watched as Bonnie's eyes filled up with tears and the guilt seized him.

She left the room, closing the door behind her before allowing them to fall.

Why did everything in her life have to be so fucking hard?

* * *

Damon slept the entire day away, not waking up until almost nine that night.

Coming out of Bonnie's bedroom, he walked down the hallway and passed the bathroom were he saw Abby giving Tristan a bath. He continued down the narrow pathway until he heard running water and realized Bonnie must be in the kitchen. He found her there standing over the sink washing dishes.

Other than a few dirty pots and pans from dinner sitting on top of the counter to be washed by Bonnie, the apartment was spotless otherwise.

Bonnie looked up a few seconds later and saw him standing there. She could see that he was sober.

"My mother made you a plate. It's in the microwave."

"Thank you, but I'm not hungry." He said, swallowing hard.

"Don't thank me, she was the one to cook tonight and you'll hurt her feelings if you don't eat it...and I think it's the least you can do considering everything that's happened today."

Damon nodded his head, knowing he deserved every bit of her aloofness towards him. And a lot more.

Coming into the kitchen, he went to the microwave and took out the plate which was filled with mash potatoes, green beans and a slice of meat loaf. He walked over to where Bonnie was standing washing dishes and leaned over her to get a clean fork from the dish-rack.

"Excuse me." He said softly when he did so.

Taking his plate, he went and sat down at the kitchen table and began to eat.

The food was really good and he ended up devouring everything within five minutes.

Bonnie placed his keys on the table and went back to washing dishes.

"Thank you." He said.

"There's no need to thank me, just go."

Damon didn't move from his spot at the small table.

Looking up at the clock mounted on the kitchen wall he realized it literally was twenty-four hours since his father breathed his last breath. They all knew it wasn't looking to good for Giuseppe because his health was deteriorating fast and the doctors said that he wouldn't make it through the month.

They were right.

Damon didn't go to sleep at all last night when he got home from the hospital, and when morning came he made the funeral arrangements while his mother drowned her sorrows in a bottle of gin.

Stefan didn't even bother to come home, preferring to stay at a friend's house.

And maybe that was a good thing because Damon and his mother ended up getting into a huge fight when she discovered he made all of the funeral arrangements without her and it just pushed him over the edge and he grabbed for the bourbon but it wasn't working its magic over him this time.

So giving into his old self-destructive ways, Damon turned back to an old habit he'd indulged briefly in while in college.

He told Bonnie the truth. He wasn't a junkie. He hadn't spiraled that far out of control even when he was younger.

Before that morning, it had been four years since he last had a hit of cocaine.

"There are a lot of things that you don't know about me Bonnie and I'm sure there are things that I don't know about you...I don't have a drug problem, I'm not a junkie. And I know that you can't understand this, but I just wanted to not feel anything for a while. It was a stupid thing for me to do because I know better. But please don't hold this one indiscretion against me. I was only trying to ease the hurt. That's all."

Bonnie turned angry eyes on him. "So you eased your hurt, good for you. But the problem is that you then came into my home and hurt me. And I'm finding it very difficult to forgive you Damon because I know your father just died."

Damon stood to his feet, but when he made a move towards her, Bonnie back away. "No. Don't. I think you should leave now. Goodbye."

Their eyes held, but it only lasted a moment because Bonnie turned her back on him.

Not liking the finality of her words, Damon corrected her. "Not goodbye Bonnie...but goodnight. My father's funeral will be in two days, so I'll see you at work on Monday and we'll start fresh." He said meaningfully.

She didn't respond.

It was only when the front door closed shut that Bonnie was able to breathe again.

* * *

When Monday morning finally came, Bonnie wasn't at the office. She called out sick.

It was her first time missing work since being hired.

Damon sat at his desk knowing the reason why she wasn't there was because she didn't want to see him.

Around ten, he stopped pretending like he was doing anything productive because he wasn't.

Grabbing his keys, he left the office telling Liz he was gone for the day.

Taking the expressway, within fifteen minutes he was driving into Bonnie's apartment complex. He parked his Porsche next to her car, knocking at her door seconds later.

It took a minute for Bonnie to answer, but when she did it was from behind the door. "Are you sober... because I'm still reeling from the last time you were here." She said not joking.

"I know that which is why I'm here... to make things right between us again."

Bonnie closed her eyes, leaning her head against the door. "I can't seem to get over how mean you were to me...I didn't know you could be like that."

"I'm not Bonnie...I swear I'm not!"

"What you did, the things you said...it really hurt me."

"I know that and I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of it Bonnie. You have to believe that."

She shook her head. "But it had to have come from somewhere otherwise it never would have come out of your mouth. Just admit it, deep down inside you think I'm a whore and you don't respect me."

"No, you know that's not true!" He denied.

Damon began to panic because things were starting to turn left. He could feel it.

"Bonnie, open the door...I want to see you."

"No, I don't think that's a good idea...no one's here and I'm still dressed in my nightgown."

Damon realized that Bonnie didn't trust him anymore and it crushed him.

It wasn't until then that he realized the magnitude of his actions.

He really fucked things up with her and he didn't know how to fix it.

Damon leaned his head against the door, not knowing that he was mirroring Bonnie's pose on the other side.

"I would never hurt you in that way. You've been the only thing keeping me going these last few months Bonnie. With everything that was happening knowing that I would see you made things bearable. Fridays used to be my favorite day of the week, but not after we started working together because it meant that I would have to go a whole two days without seeing you. You're the only bright spot in my life and I don't want to lose you. We've spent months circling around each other, but I'm ready to see where this can go. I know I fucked things up and now you don't trust me, but I'm asking you...no I'm begging you to give us a chance."

Tears spilled from Bonnie's eyes, and she wiped them away. She'd waited so long for him to say these words to her, but now it was too late for them.

"I want to Damon, I really do, but I can't now knowing you do drugs. I just can't put myself in that type of situation. I saw what happened to Felicia and how Dino dragged her down. And I can't allow myself to get caught up that way. My mother and Tristan are depending on me to do the right thing."

"Bonnie, I swear on my father's grave that I'm not an addict. Until that day, I hadn't snorted coke in four years. It was a stupid phase that I went through back in college and the only reason I did it was because everyone else around me was doing it and the crazy thing is is that I didn't even like the way it made me feel. All it did was make me become even more of an asshole. I swear to god that I will never touch that shit again if it means you'll stay in my life."

Silence.

"Baby please don't do this. Don't walk away from me before we've even had a chance to start. Bonnie I don't think I can take another major blow so soon... I need you."

Bonnie had listened intently to Damon's every word and none of them felt like lies to her. She could feel it in her gut.

Damon could hear the door unlocking from the inside and then she opened it. Her face was wet with tears, but she still looked beautiful to him.

"Will you give us a chance Bonnie?"

She nodded her head yes.

Damon picked her up into his arms and she wrapped hers around his neck, holding him tightly.

It had begun.


	9. Chapter 9

Stefan's face was all scrunched up as he descended the stairs of the basement where they kept the exercise room and not because it smelled bad down there or anything, but because the music was obnoxiously loud with the sound of gun shots going off every few seconds as if it was the main hook to the song.

What in the hell was his brother listening to?

Damon stood in front of the floor to ceiling mirror lifting weights to Bone Thugs-n-Harmony and Tupac's _Thug Luv_ blaring through the sound system.

His form was perfect as he worked out, having been taught by a personal trainer to gain the maximum benefit of lifting weights without straining his muscles.

"Since when do _you_ listen to rap music?"

Damon chuckled, putting the weights down. He was actually happy for the interruption because he needed a break. It had been a couple weeks since he last worked-out this hardcore so his body was fighting him.

"Since my girl likes to listen to it...I got to admit it's actually pretty good once you get over all the profanity. I'm really liking this guy called TI. You should give him a try, I think you might like his music...but listen to his older stuff though. It's much better."

Those were actually Bonnie's words, but Damon soon agreed with her once he listened to all of TI's albums. There was definitely a big difference in the tone and quality of his music from his first few albums versus when he blew up and became more mainstream.

All Stefan could do was stare and then he snapped out of it. "Who the hell are you and what have you done with my brother?"

Damon laughed.

"No, I'm not kidding here. You're like a totally different person since you've been dating this girl, not to mention the fact that you're hardly at home anymore."

It was true, Damon was spending a lot time at Bonnie's place with her family. Taking a page from Stefan's book, finding himself preferring to be anywhere else other than at home with their mother as she slowly drank herself to death. Because when it boiled down to it, that's exactly what she was doing.

"Please don't try to make me feel guilty for being happy...when I'm with Bonnie I feel good and nothing else matters."

"Does that include me and mom?"

Damon sighed. "You know that's not what I meant, Stef."

"Then what did you mean Damon?"

There was a long pause.

"Stefan, I'm in love with her."

The younger brother was shook because never had Damon uttered those words of any woman. He didn't know it was this serious.

He took a seat on the bench closest to them. "Have you told her?"

"Are you kidding? Bonnie would run from me so fast if she knew. It's too soon for all that...she's already wary of me as it is."

Stefan's thick brows drew together in a straight line. "What do you mean?"

"I showed up at her place fucked up on coke and I said some hurtful things to her...it was really bad, and even though she forgave me, I feel like she's still hurt over what I did and I don't know how to fix it other than to give her time and show her that I didn't mean it."

It was a lot for Stefan to take in. "Man, I can't believe you're in love with a stripper."

"Hey, ex-stripper and besides she's really a ballet dancer."

"Stop joking around." Stefan chuckled.

"No joke. I'm serious. Bonnie's a ballet dancer. She's classically trained. She went to a performing arts high school and everything...she was so talented that she got accepted into the Alvin Ailey School of Ballet but had to drop out of the program to take care of her mom."

"What happened to her mom?"

"She got hurt really badly on her job and now suffer from seizures."

"But she's better now right, otherwise Bonnie wouldn't be working full time for you."

"A nurse's aide comes and stays with Abby during the day while Bonnie's at work."

"Well if Bonnie has help for a mother, what's stopping her from enrolling back into her ballet program?"

That was a damn good question that Damon didn't know the answer to.

* * *

Before heading over to Bonnie's, Damon stopped by Whole Foods to pick up a few things for dinner.

He had a taste for Abby's shrimp and grits.

She made some a few weeks back and it was so good, so he got everything that she would need to make some more.

That woman was an amazing cook. Everything she made tasted fucking delicious.

When he pulled up into the apartment complex, Abby and Bonnie were sitting outside on the porch while Tristan played in the yard.

The little boy ran up to the car. "Damon, Damon!" He cried excitedly.

He got out of the Porsche with a smile on his face. "Hey, what's up little man?"

Damon had gotten into the habit of calling Tristan that because that's what Abby and Bonnie called him.

"Nothing much. Just playing." He answered.

Damon laughed. "Well you're a kid. That's what you're supposed to be doing." He said reaching into the car to grab the brag of groceries.

"What you got there?" Tristan asked curiously.

"Well I was kinda hoping that your grandma would make us some shrimp and grits for dinner...how does that sound?"

Tristan licked his lips while rubbing his stomach. "That sounds good!"

"So what do you say Abby...you feel like cooking some shrimp tonight?" Damon asked, walking up to the porch.

"Who's gonna devein them?" She asked, looking between Damon and Bonnie. The latter not responding because cleaning shrimp shit wasn't in her plans for the evening.

"I bought them already deveined, so all you got to do is washed them."

"Well then bring them here, so I can get started on dinner."

Damon gave Abby the brown Whole Food's grocery bag.

"Little man, you wanna come inside and help me with dinner?" Abby asked.

"Yes!"

"Then come on." She said, wanting to give Damon and Bonnie some alone time.

Damon leaned down and gave Bonnie a quick peck on the lips before taking Abby's seat.

"You look beautiful."

"Ha, ha very funny." Thinking he was being sarcastic because she was dressed in a tee shirt and sweat pants with a bandanna wrapped around her head.

Saturdays Bonnie dressed down because it was the day she deep cleaned the apartment, so that all Abby had to do during the week was some light housework to keep it looking nice.

"I wasn't trying to be funny...you honestly look beautiful to me." He replied, taking her hand and kissing it.

That was something that Bonnie had to get used too because Damon was surprisingly very affectionate and sometimes she found herself comparing him to Jody who was anything but especially in public, always trying to act all hard. But the thing was, he wasn't but only she got to see the softer side of him _behind closed doors_.

Whereas Damon didn't care who witnessed him being touchy-feely with her.

"So what are we doing tonight?" He asked, linking their fingers together.

"If it's alright with you, I kinda just want to stay in tonight and maybe watch a movie here. We'll go out next weekend, I promise."

Bonnie was tired.

Earlier that morning she took Tristan to get a hair cut. Then the two of them went grocery shopping for the coming week and then once home, Bonnie cleaned the entire apartment while doing three loads of laundry.

"You kinda got tuckered out today, huh?"

Bonnie nodded her head.

Damon knew that having to take care of Tristan and her mom was like a second job for Bonnie.

He wanted to give her a break, let her really relax even if it was just for a day or two.

"How about this, instead of going out next week, I take you away for the whole weekend...I was thinking Miami. It's only a two hour flight, just the two of us. We'll leave Friday after work and come back Sunday night."

"Damon, I can't leave mama and Tristan here alone for two days. Something could happen."

"Bonnie, don't you think I thought of that. I'll pay for her nurse's aide to spend the weekend here. Problem solved. So what do you say? You, me, walking on the beach at sunset. Drinking a few mimosas. I know you like those. Let me do this for you...for us. We both could use a mini get-away."

Staring into his beautiful blue eyes, Bonnie couldn't resist even if she tried and Damon had covered everything, so there was really no reason for her to say no except if she didn't want to go and that wasn't the case.

"You're right...I'm in. So next weekend look out Kourtney and Khloe because it's gonna be Damon and Bonnie Take Miami!"

"Who?" Damon asked looking adorably confused.

He was so cute.

Bonnie got up from her chair and sat across Damon's lap wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love the fact that you have no clue of who the Kardashins are."

She lightly pecked him on the lips.

"Bonnie, come here for a second!" Abby yelled from inside.

She sighed heavily, leaning her head against Damon's. The two of them staring into each others eyes.

"Thank you for giving me something to look forward to." She said earnestly.

It was moments like these that Damon had to restrain from telling Bonnie that he was in love with her.

What he told Stefan was true. It was too soon for that.

So he would wait and give Bonnie the time she needed to get used to things and in the mean time instead of telling her that he loved her, he would just show her.

* * *

The week seemed to fly by and before Bonnie knew it, she and Damon were on the airplane headed to Florida and Damon went all out, booking them first class tickets and when they landed in Miami a car was already waiting for them to take them to their hotel in South Beach.

He got them the penthouse suite and it was absolutely gorgeous.

Feeling somewhat exhausted, Bonnie would have preferred staying in the suite and ordering room service for dinner and maybe eating outside on the balcony, but she knew they didn't come there to stay inside of the hotel when they could have did that at home for free.

Damon probably wanted to go out to eat at some fancy five star restaurant.

"I bought you something very special to wear tonight for dinner. I hope you like it." He said.

So it was official, they were indeed going out. Bonnie tried not to sound disappointed.

"I'm sure I'll love it because you have great taste in clothes." She said truthfully. "I'm going to take a shower. I'm feeling kind of yucky from the plane."

Bonnie was a low key clean freak. She couldn't stand to be dirty.

"Do you want some company?"

She laughed at his antics. "The whole purpose of a shower is to get clean, and I got a feeling that won't happen with you in there, nice try though."

Bonnie took her makeup bag into the bathroom with her because she wanted to do some light touch-ups to her face.

The shower ended up being fucking epic with the water shooting form all angles for a full body clean. Five people could have fit inside of it.

It was the best shower she ever had.

There were his and her bathrobes hanging up and Bonnie took the smaller one covering herself before coming out of the bathroom.

Damon stopped what he was doing and just stared at her. "Feeling better?" He asked when she looked his way.

"Yesss...that shower is amazing. I seriously want to take another one. No joke."

He smiled. "Do you want to see your outfit for tonight?"

"Yes of course...let me see."

"Before I show you I just want you to know I kinda got the same thing for myself."

"Come again?" Because she was thinking that Damon had bought her a dress.

"We're gonna be matching."

"We are?"

Damon opened up his carry-on bag and pulled out two sets of matching pajamas.

"Seriously?" She asked hoping he wasn't messing with her.

"Yeah, I knew you probably didn't want to go out, so we're gonna order some room service and pig out in front of the TV. We'll go out tomorrow, okay."

Bonnie ran to him jumping into his arms and wrapping her bare legs around his waist. "How did you know that's all I wanted to do?"

Damon held her close, kissing her neck. She smelled so good. "Easy...I pay attention."

* * *

When Bonnie saw the insane prices for the meals for room service, she was literally outraged.

There was no way in hell that she was letting Damon pay thirty dollars for some chicken tenders and french fries. And that was just for one plate of food.

Bonnie talked him into ordering some pizza hut.

They got a medium size pepperoni and sausage pizza with some wings, a two liter soda, and one of those chocolate chip cookie desserts all for twenty bucks.

Damon took the opportunity to shower while they waited on the food to be delivered. He didn't take as long as Bonnie did. He was in and out in under ten minutes.

He walked out of the bathroom wearing a towel wrapped around his waist.

Bonnie did a double take.

"I forgot my Pjs." He explained.

Bonnie swallowed hard. "No problem."

Damon grabbed the pajamas and returned to the bathroom, closing the door.

"Damn." Bonnie said, picking up the hotel menu and began fanning herself.

* * *

They ate outside on the balcony. Everything was perfect. The view. The weather. The food. The company.

They were drinking Pepsi out of champagne flutes.

"Do you miss doing ballet?" Damon asked.

He could tell that he caught Bonnie off guard with the question, but she recovered quickly enough.

"To be honest, I don't think about it." She answered and it was the truth.

Well that surprised Damon. "You don't?"

"No, I don't...why would I? That part of my life is over." She said in matter of fact way.

"But what if it doesn't have to be...what if you could study once more, would you do it?"

She thought for a moment before answering. "No, I wouldn't...Damon, I'm twenty and in the ballet world that's considered old. Now had my education not stopped it would have been a different story. I would be performing professionally in a dance company by now with a lot of experience under my belt. Do you have any idea the massive amount of training it would take just for me to get back to the level I was at and even then I would have to compete with girls much younger than me and in better physical shape. I've never been one for pipe dreams and I'm not going to start having them now."

Bonnie suddenly stood to her feet. "I want to call Tristan before he goes to bed."

Damon was silent as he watched her go back inside of the suite, getting the uneasy feeling that he had inadvertently upset her.

* * *

After getting off the phone with Tristan and her mother, Bonnie went into the bathroom to take off her makeup and as she stood in front of the mirror wiping her face clean, she began to cry.

It just came out of nowhere, hitting her from deep inside.

She had so many dreams for her life and everyone of them had been snatched away from her.

It was so unfair because she was a good person and always tried to do the right thing, but life just kept smacking her down. Every time she thought she was in a good place, something would go wrong and it made her wonder just how long she and Damon had before something came along to mess things up.

It that moment, Bonnie felt like someone had set the clock on her and Damon and that they were running out of time, so she had to make the most of it while she could.

Drying her tears, she finished cleaning her face.

When she came out of the bathroom, Damon was lying in bed with the remote control in his hand searching for something to watch.

Bonnie came and laid down beside him, taking the remote from his hand and laying it aside.

"Don't you want to watch a movie?" He asked.

Bonnie shook her head no.

"Then what do you want to do?"

"This." She said, leaning in to kiss him.

There was no more talking after that.


	10. Chapter 10

Damon let Bonnie have her way with him for all of thirty seconds and then she was on her back with his much larger body partially covering hers.

His tongue assumed control over the kiss quickly making Bonnie realize Damon wasn't one to be toyed with.

That he was a man in every sense of the word and would therefore act accordingly when provoked.

All Bonnie could do was lay there and take it as his mouth moved upon hers.

Consuming her whole.

Causing her heart to quicken as her chest heaved up and down from the feelings he invoked coiling inside of her belly.

She was being kissed by a man who knew exactly what he was doing, forcing her body to grow hot with need and setting her on fire.

And never having experienced anything like this before in her life, it was scary.

In literally a manner of seconds, things had turned so intense.

Suddenly Bonnie got the feeling that she'd just bitten off way more than she could chew. It was like she had unleashed something that she knew she wasn't ready for.

Pressing her hand to Damon's chest, she pulled away from his hungry mouth.

"What's wrong, you okay?" He asked, his beautiful blue eyes full of concern for her.

Bonnie licked her lips, feeling the effects of his kiss. She reached up to touch his handsome face. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to catch my breath."

Turning his face towards her open palm, he kissed her hand. Giving her the time she needed.

Damon began to unbutton her pajama top and when he uncovered her, his breath caught when he gazed upon her flesh.

She was beyond lovely. There were no words to describe how exquisite she was.

Not being able to stop himself, he lowered his head kissing the valley between her breasts, running his hand over one supple mound and squeezing it gently before placing his mouth over her nipple and caressing it with his tongue.

Bonnie moaned softly, arching her back while sinking her fingers into his hair and pulling him closer.

His hand began to slide down her body and slip inside of her pajama bottoms.

Bonnie wasn't wearing any underwear, so when his fingers slid between her legs, she gasped at his touch.

Damon licked his lips, watching as Bonnie closed her eyes as pleasure took over her body.

It had been so long since she'd been touched like this that her hips began to lift up, seeking more.

Damon's mouth sealed over hers once again, his dominating tongue filling her.

It was almost too much stimulation all at once, forcing Bonnie to pull away yet again so that she could breathe, but Damon continued to work her flesh until she became slippery wet between his nibble fingers.

When Bonnie felt herself about to come, she buried her face against Damon's arm, her hands gripping the bedspread into a tight fist.

"Oh god!" She cried out as her body became taut.

Damon's hand moved faster, propelling Bonnie closer to her release. She was helpless against him unable to move. All she could do was feel.

Lowering his head, he captured one erect nipple into his mouth and began to suckle at her breast. His dick lengthening in its hardness because he was so turned on getting her off.

Bonnie's calves started to cramp from her legs being bent for so long with her toes curled into the mattress, but she didn't care. All she could do was feel as pleasure consumed her.

Bonnie and Damon's mouths were so close that their lips touched, the two breathing in and exhaling the same air as he watched her come undone, her body trembling with release.

When it was over, the two stared into each other's eyes.

Bonnie reached up, caressing Damon's face.

"We don't have to do anything else if you're not ready." He said softly, giving her the chance to back out because he saw the slight hesitation in her eyes earlier.

"But I am...I want you Damon. I want you so much." She confessed, lifting up to kiss his lips.

And it was true.

The only person Bonnie had ever been with was Jody, but they had been so young the first time they had sex. They were virgins. And the couple of times they'd been together was more about exploration of their bodies rather than lust and desire. At least on her part.

What Bonnie had just experienced with Damon was all so new to her and she wanted more.

Damon kissed Bonnie gently on the lips before pulling away from her. She was about to protest when he began to undress her, dragging down her pajama bottoms and pulling them off her body.

Bonnie sat up, slipping the top from her slender shoulders.

She was absolutely stunning that all Damon could do was stare at her.

Bonnie leaned forward and sticking her fingers inside of Damon's pajamas began to slide them down and his dick suddenly sprang forward already hard and erect, aimed in her direction.

She swallowed hard at the sight of him.

Damon got up from the bed and Bonnie watched as he walked over to the nightstand and pulled open the drawer, taking out a condom.

Tearing it open, he placed it over his erection.

Laying back against the bed, Bonnie opened her legs for Damon as he climbed on top of her.

Biting her lip, she waited as he positioned himself at her entrance.

But her nerves finally got the best of her and she felt like if she didn't say something now Damon would assume that she was more experienced than she actually was.

"Damon wait." She swallowed hard.

He froze. His first thought being that she changed her mind.

"I've never been with anyone but Jody and we were both virgins the first time we had sex. We only did it a couple of times before he was killed."

Immediate relief washed over him and he smiled softly at her, caressing her face and when he leaned down to kiss her it was with such gentleness that it made Bonnie want to cry.

It made her feel cherished and loved.

Of course Bonnie wasn't stupid enough to think that Damon loved her, but it was how he was making her feel in that moment. And she was very grateful to him for easing her nerves.

And when he began to enter her body, he did it with such care. Taking it slow and being gentle with her.

Bonnie's pussy was so warm and tight as it engulfed around his manhood that Damon's eyes almost crossed at the shear feel of her.

She gasped at the sensation, arching upward as he sank into her a mixture of pain and pleasure.

When he was fully seated inside of her, he stopped moving all together allowing her body to adjust to his invasion.

"You feel so good." He whispered against her lips, resting his forehead against hers.

Bonnie licked her lips, breathing in and out deeply.

"Does it hurt?" He asked after a moment when she didn't respond to him.

She nodded her head. "But I'm okay."

Damon kissed her, his lips moving tenderly across hers and then positioned on his knees he began to move, thrusting his hips back and forth in a slow rhythm that Bonnie could take as her body got used to his.

Only the sound of their collective breathing could be heard in the quietness that enveloped them.

With his right hand braced against the mattress, the left one caressed Bonnie's breasts, squeezing them gently. She moaned softly.

As time ticked by, sweat slicked the surface of their skin. They gazed into each other's eyes as Damon moved carefully above her. There was no need for words.

He filled her so completely that there wasn't room for anyone else but him.

Thoughts of Jody dissolved like cigarette smoke with each thrust of Damon's hips.

Bonnie held Damon close wrapping her ankles just below his ass wanting to keep him right there forever.

Neither one of them wanted the feeling to end.

Dropping his head against Bonnie's shoulder, Damon moved a little faster. Not being able to help it because she felt so damn good.

Bonnie cried out and Damon thought he was hurting her. He almost stopped, but then she moaned and began to lift her hips to meet his. Her breathing increasing and he knew that what he was doing was finally starting to feel good to her too, so he began to move a little faster and a tad harder with his thrusts.

And all to soon Bonnie could feel herself about to orgasm and her mouth fell open.

Feeling her pussy beginning to contract around him, Damon concentrated on his own orgasm determined to come with her.

And he did moments later.

Gently easing out of her body, he collapsed onto the bed by her side. Both of them breathing hard.

"Is that what I've been missing all this time?" Bonnie asked in amazement.

Damon chuckled lowly, his hand moving across Bonnie's tiny waist and pulling her flush against his body so that now they were face to face.

"Don't worry, we'll make up for lost time. Trust me."

* * *

Bonnie awoke the next morning tangled up in the bed sheets with her hair all over her head.

She looked hung over.

Opening her eyes, she squinted a little at the brightness of the sun shining directly into the room.

She heard Damon singing inside of the bathroom as he took a shower.

Two seconds later, she felt the urge to pee. But Bonnie didn't move as thoughts of Damon filled her mind.

They had an encore performance during the night.

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea considering she hadn't been sexually active in a while.

To make matters worse, during that repeat performance, Bonnie demonstrated some her flexibility skills, bending her body in ways she hadn't in years.

And now she was paying the price for showing off.

Damon came out of the bathroom all freshly showered with a towel wrapped around his waist.

He chuckled when he saw Bonnie just laying there. He climbed onto the foot of the bed and crawled his way up her body.

"Look whose finally awake, looking all dazed and confused." He laughed, laying on top of her. His sexy ass smelling all good.

"Shut up." Bonnie laughed, knowing she probably looked a hot mess. Wrapping her hair being the furthest thing from her mind last night.

"Don't worry baby, I'll fix it for you." Damon said. The fool licking his hand trying to smooth Bonnie's hair down.

"Stop!" She laughed, trying to push his hand away. "That's so gross!"

"No it's not, let me fix it...now hold still!"

"Damon no...stop!" Bonnie couldn't stop laughing.

"Look, I know what I'm doing."

"No you don't!"

He licked his hand again, rubbing it on her hair.

Bonnie screamed in disgust. "Oh my god, Damon stop...what's wrong with you?!"

But he ignored her, fixing her hair until it was no longer sticking out all over her head. "See... there...I'm done. You want to see?"

"No, I'm sure it looks fine. Spit and all. Thank you."

Damon laughed, chucking Bonnie underneath her chin. "Funny...so how are you feeling this morning? You okay?"

"I'm fine...just a little sore."

He frowned in concern.

"Damon I'm fine...nothing that soaking in a warm bath of Epsom salt won't cure."

He kissed the tip of her nose. "Then I'll go run you a bath."

"Thanks." She said somewhat surprised.

"Anything for you, boo." He said, giving her a quick peck on the lips before getting up.

Oh god. Bonnie hated that term. "Please don't call me that."

"What about bae?"

"No, absolutely not...it's just as bad!"

"Then what can I call you?"

"Bonnie."

He laughed. "You're no fun." He said pouting.

"You thought I was plenty of fun last night."

"That you were. It was like being with an Olympic gymnast...so bendy. I was very impressed." He said, giving her a heated stare.

Bonnie chuckled trying to play it off, but that stare made her pussy hot.

Damon winked at her as if he knew.

When he finally turned towards the bathroom, she breathed a sigh of relief, but then he suddenly turned back to her, making Bonnie's eyes grow wide.

But she had nothing to worry about. Damon wasn't thinking about her pussy. At least not in that moment.

"And I bet you were worried that it would be awkward between us this morning. Weren't you?"

Bonnie nodded her head. The thought having crossed her mind last night as she fell asleep in his arms.

"See, you worried for nothing. We're good."

The corner of Bonnie's mouth tilted up in a small smile.

Yeah, they were good.


	11. Chapter 11

AUTHOR'S NOTE REMOVED


	12. Chapter 12

Nothing was like she remembered and it just added to her anxiety at being home.

So much had changed while she was out there in the streets getting high and almost dying.

The biggest change being that her baby boy was no longer a little baby.

It blew Felicia's mind. Tristan was a little man and he was so handsome.

It felt like just yesterday when she had him, and now he was this little person and it hurt because she missed out on so much of his growth and development.

Felicia knew that she could never get that time back. It was lost forever and that was something that she had to accept or it would just eat away at her and possibly cause her to relapse if she thought about it too much.

She couldn't let that happen because too much was at stake. Mainly her relationship with her son. That was the first thing she had to get on track.

What mattered now was living in the present and being the best mom she could be for Tristan.

That was why now she was up so early in the morning making breakfast for everyone which turned out to be harder than she expected because nothing was were it used to be.

Bonnie had rearranged the whole damn kitchen.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

There was new furniture in the living room with a HD flat screen television mounted on the wall, and in the kitchen there was a new dining set with matching chairs and one of those cabinet looking things for the chinaware that white people had in their homes.

No one in the fucking projects ate off china!

When Felicia saw all this shit when she came home from rehab she was like what the hell? Did someone win the damn lottery and didn't tell her? Where did all this stuff come from?

Then Abby explained.

But Felicia understood it like this...long story, short Bonnie's fucking some rich white dude that she met at the strip club and he decided to upgrade her living arrangements. And not only that, the dumb motherfucker gave her a job at his company, so that she could stop taking her clothes off for money.

 _And just take her clothes off for him._ As Felicia saw it when she heard of her baby-sister's come-up.

That was the gist of it.

And now her little ass was down in Miami living like a white woman and enjoying the fucking good life while leaving their mom and Tristan at home with a damn nurse's aid.

Even just thinking about it now pissed Felicia the fuck off and she needed a cigarette to calm her nerves.

Looking around the kitchen and not seeing the pack, she realized that she left them in Bonnie's bedroom where she spent the night after telling the nurse's-aid she could go home.

Turning the stove down on the grits, she walked out of the kitchen and went into Bonnie's room where she spotted the cigarettes laying on top of the dresser.

Sliding one out the pack, she quickly lit it up with a lighter and sat down heavily upon Bonnie's bed as she inhaled deeply before slowly blowing the smoke out through her nose.

Even Bonnie's bedroom got a fucking makeover. With fresh new paint on the walls and everything, which went perfectly with her expensive ass bedroom set.

And Felicia knew the shit was expensive because it looked it.

Hell, it even felt expensive. Felicia ain't ever slept so good as she had last night sleeping in Bonnie's bed. Those fucking sheets as well as the mattress itself was fucking EVERYTHING.

"Shit!" She hissed when ashes from her cigarette fell on Bonnie's duvet cover.

She made the mistake of trying to brush it off with her hand and it created a grayish black smudge.

"Fuck!" She cussed lowly because Tristan and her mom were still asleep in their rooms.

There was nothing she could do about it now. It was stained.

Oh well, that rich white nigga of hers would just have to buy Bonnie a new one.

* * *

Damon and Bonnie were so into each other that neither noticed the stares they were getting from the other hotel guests sitting outside by the pool soaking up the hot Miami sunshine.

Dressed in a tiny orange bikini that complimented her golden skin, Bonnie sat astride Damon's pale muscular body as he laid in one of those chaise lounge chairs with his hands resting on her ass.

The two of them looking very cozy.

After their passionate night of making love, Damon couldn't seem to keep his hands off Bonnie.

Quite frankly, he couldn't keep his hands off her ass. Literally.

It was a gorgeous little ass.

A work of art as far as he was concerned.

He was so tempted to whisk her back to their suite so that he could have his way with her, but he didn't want to overwhelm Bonnie and scare her off. She was still relatively new to fucking that she might not understand his need for sex.

He wasn't a fucking sex addict or anything. He just enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh. Maybe a little too much.

So he needed to take it easy with Bonnie for a while just until she got used to being with him.

But damn, it was so hard denying himself because she was so fucking beautiful.

Even now as she sat on top of him, all Damon could think about was being with her last night.

His dick twitched inside of his black swim trunks.

Clearing his throat, Damon knew he needed to change the trajectory of his thoughts before he made himself hard.

"Hey, I was thinking that maybe we should stay a couple more days and make it a real vacation, what do you think?" He asked, because he was really enjoying himself and wanted a few more days alone with her.

It was just the two of them and he found that he liked having Bonnie all to himself away from her family.

It wasn't that he had anything against Abby and Tristan. Far from it.

It was just that they consumed so much of Bonnie's time and energy leaving very little for him and Damon wasn't used to playing second fiddle to anyone. It was a major adjustment for him.

Like always having to spend time at her place where there was absolutely zero privacy and now that the two of them had become intimate, how was that supposed to work?

"You know I can't do that Damon." She answered.

He raised up, his face now inches from hers, giving Bonnie no choice but to focus all of her attention on him.

"Yes you can...you can do anything you want. All you gotta do is say the word and it's done." He then kissed her lips, tempting her. But his seduction attempt backfired on him because as soon as their lips made contact Damon's need for Bonnie overshadowed everything else and he became greedy with her, plunging his tongue into her mouth.

Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him just as vigorously not caring that they were in public for everyone to see.

But then Damon slide the knuckle of his index finger down the slit of her vagina forcing Bonnie to put a stop to things. She grabbed his wrist, breaking their kiss.

"Behave." She chuckled.

Damon licked his lips suggestively, his blue eyes smoldering with sex. "Come on, let's stay a few more days...you know you want to."

For the second time since knowing Damon, Bonnie got the feeling that she was being tempted by Satan himself.

Everything about him was so alluring that it could be so easy to just give in and chuck all of her responsibilities.

He was so gorgeous. Sinfully so.

Damon leaned in kissing Bonnie once more, but not as deeply. Only giving her a little taste of his tongue. Teasing her lips.

She didn't pull away from him even though she knew this was only a ploy to get what he wanted.

But she went along with it allowing him to kiss her until he was ready to stop. Her eyes were open the entire time. Literally and figuratively.

When he finally let her go, Bonnie gently cupped his handsome face in the palms of her hands, searching his eyes as she did so and then she spoke.

"I've been up front with you Damon from the very beginning. You know my situation and that hasn't changed since we've been here. Tristan, my mother and I are a package deal. They are my responsibility and if you can't handle that then we..."

Damon quickly silenced Bonnie with his lips, not wanting to hear the end of that sentence.

Some things were just better left unsaid and not spoken into the atmosphere.

When he pulled away this time, his face was sober. "No sweat, we'll go back home as planned."

"Are you mad?" She asked, biting into her lower lip.

"Mad no. Disappointed yes. I just wanted to spend a little more time with you. That's all."

Now Bonnie felt bad , but she couldn't give in to him on this matter. Not knowing what else to do, she hugged Damon, holding him close.

"Thank you for understanding." She whispered against his ear.

* * *

Later on that evening, Damon and Bonnie were getting ready to go out to dinner, but she wanted to call home first and check on things before they left just in case they got back late.

So grabbing her phone, Bonnie made the call as she slipped on her heels.

But then she froze at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line, asking hello.

"Felicia? Is that you?"

"The one and only...you having fun down there in Miami, baby sis?"

So many thoughts ran through Bonnie's mind all at once that she felt damn near faint.

What was Felicia doing there? Was her mom and Tristan okay? The diamond bracelet that Damon gave her was in the top drawer of her nightstand, she forgot to bring it with her. Did Felicia take it to the Pawn shop? Was she back on crack? Was she shooting up heroin?

"We weren't expecting you until Wednesday...what happened?" Bonnie asked swallowing hard. Totally ignoring Felicia's question.

"Yeah, I know. There was some kind of mix up with my discharge date. I came home last night."

"Wow." Was all Bonnie could say.

Damon stood a few feet away from her, so he could see the worry on Bonnie's face.

She did not like the fact that Felicia was home alone with Abby and Tristan while she was over six hundred miles away in Miami.

"Yeah I know. Tell me about it." Felicia said on the line.

"Where's mama and Tristan?"

"Oh they're outside. Mama's on the porch talking with Ms. Daphne and Tristan is playing in the yard with his friends."

Bonnie nodded her head, still shook from the turn of events. "Well just tell them I called, okay?"

"Will do." Felicia said.

"Alright then...bye Felicia."

Silence.

Two seconds later then a dial tone.

Swallowing hard, Bonnie pulled the phone from her ear ending the call. She looked at Damon.

"I'll get us a flight out tonight." He said, undoing his tie.

Bonnie's green eyes filled up with tears. She closed the space between them, cupping Damon's face in the palms of her hands.

"I will make this up to you...I promise."

He gave her a little smile that didn't quite reach his blue eyes. "You better."

Bending down, Damon placed a tender kiss to Bonnie's smiling lips.

Showing his love for her once again.


	13. Chapter 13

Bonnie was the type of person where if she was around new people or in a new environment she became quiet and just observed.

It took her a minute to warm up and be friendly. She like knowing what she was dealing with before allowing people in.

Ironically with Damon, it didn't happen that way and it was all due to how they met.

She was at work and he was a paying costumer. But then through a chain of events that were beyond her control, he somehow just got tangled up into her life and he created a space for himself becoming a permanent fixture that everyone in her circle easily accepted without question.

It was a smooth transition for everyone involved.

Absolutely no drama at all...then Felicia came home.

* * *

Before becoming a junkie, Felicia was so pretty that if she wanted to she could have been a model.

Growing up her nickname was Pretty-Baby. That's what everyone in their apartment complex called her.

At 5'6, Felicia had a slender frame and whereas Bonnie was caramel skinned, she was a few shades lighter taking after Abby and her eyes were a paler shade of green.

And what was sad about Felicia was that her looks would have taken her places had she not chosen the wrong guy and it changed the course of what could have been a great life.

Looking back, she realized that now.

Especially watching as Bonnie made the most of the opportunity with that Damon Salvatore guy.

If only she knew then what she knew now things would have turned out so differently for her.

* * *

Felicia could hear them fucking as she laid wide awake in the twin bed in Tristan's room.

Even though she could tell that they were trying to be quiet, she could still hear soft moaning because Bonnie's bedroom was right next door and the walls were thin.

Damon came over about a couple of hours after everyone went to bed, but Felicia heard when Bonnie let him inside of the apartment. The two of them creeping to her bedroom and closing the door.

When she and Dino were together, Felicia never would have dared to fuck him in her mother's house.

But Bonnie's little ass didn't give a damn. Who the fuck did she think she was anyway?

It wasn't right.

Something needed to be done because Bonnie was out of control.

* * *

Damon left around seven in the morning and Bonnie fell back asleep, not waking up until almost three in the afternoon.

She was still tired as she stood underneath the shower. And as she washed herself, she was so aware of her body.

It was as if Damon had opened her eyes and she was seeing herself for the first time.

She felt beautiful and sexy. And that was never the case before.

Even when she danced at the strip club, Bonnie never felt that way about herself.

A large part of that was because growing up Felicia was the pretty one and everyone gushed over her looks, even their mama and though Bonnie never thought of herself as ugly, she accepted the fact that she would always pale in comparison to her older sister.

But with Damon that wasn't the case.

And if it wasn't for him, Bonnie would have never stepped out from underneath Felicia's shadow.

She saw herself now.

* * *

After throwing her bed linen into the washer, Bonnie made herself a quick ham and cheese sandwich because she was starving.

She immediately noticed the dirty dishes from breakfast still sitting in the sink and it was damn near four o'clock in the afternoon.

Bonnie knew that this was Felicia's doing. She would cook, but then wouldn't clean up afterwards.

And Bonnie was sick of it because you couldn't do stuff like that when you lived in an apartment complex because it caused roaches.

It was one thing to cleanup after her mother and Tristan, but Bonnie would be damned if she'd do it for Felicia too.

There was nothing physically hindering her from doing her part around the apartment.

She'd been home from rehab almost two weeks now and she wasn't even trying to look for a job.

Bonnie was trying to be patient and not pressure her, but damn something had to give.

Abby walked into the kitchen.

Bonnie swallowed the sandwich in her mouth before speaking. "Does your daughter plan on washing those dishes anytime soon?"

Felicia walked in a second later having heard her. "Her daughter is also your big sister. You seem to have forgotten that fact now that you think you're better than everyone else."

Bonnie's head jerked back because that was a bold face lie. "Excuse you?"

"You heard me." She answered.

"Alright girls that's enough. Please don't start." Abby interjected, already getting a headache.

"Nah mama, that's Bonnie starting shit with me for no reason. It was quiet around here before her ass got up. I wish she would just go back to bed and wait for Damon to come fuck her like he did last night, so that she can leave me the hell alone!"

Silence.

Bonnie swallowed hard, lowering her eyes to the counter.

Abby's stunned gaze swung to her youngest daughter. "Bonnie, are you and Damon having sex in my home?"

Bonnie forced herself to look her mother in the eyes. "It's my home too, mama."

"So is that a yes, young lady?" She asked.

Bonnie nodded her head slowly.

"See mama, I told you! She's been fucking that nigga right underneath your roof!"

"Hush Felicia!" Abby snapped angrily.

Felicia gasped, confused by the misplace anger directed at her. "Why you getting mad at me when Bonnie's the one disrespecting you?"

The two women were too busy glaring at each other that neither noticed the look that crossed Bonnie's face.

It was one of utter disbelief.

She actually felt slightly insane at that moment because what just came out of her sister's mouth was both enraging and funny as hell to Bonnie.

"Seriously Felicia?" Bonnie asked calmly, but her tone was deceiving because she was anything but on the inside. She was fuming.

Both Felicia and Abby turned to look at her.

"Exactly how am I disrespecting her? Did I leave home for days at a time worrying her sick over me? And when I did finally show my face was I high out of my mind and tried to fight her on more than one occasion? What about when I was feenin so hard for some crack, that I took money out of her purse? Or that time I just didn't give a fuck anymore and I stole the rent money and almost got us all put out of this apartment? Oh wait, no...that wasn't me disrespecting her. It was you, sis. Remember?"

"That's enough Bonnie." Abby said quietly, not being able to take the devastated look on Felicia's face.

But Bonnie wasn't done. "I stepped up and did what I had to do to take care of this family. I did what you couldn't do Felicia, including raising your child. And not once since you've been home from rehab have you thanked me. I put my life on hold. And I did it because it had to be done and I did it without complaining because we're family."

Abby's eyes slowly filled with tears because it was true. Never once did Bonnie complain no matter how hard it got.

The younger woman continued, but this time turning her eyes on her mother.

"And now that I've managed to find a little bit of happiness you want to shame me and make me feel bad for loving a man who is good to me and treats me right and not only me mama, but Damon has been good to you and Tristan. And it's not right that you'll accept me being a woman when it comes to taking care of this family, but I can't live as one while being underneath your roof."

"Hey Damon!" They all heard Tristan say from the porch.

Five seconds later he was walking into the kitchen. "I hope you ladies are hungry because I brought food courtesy of the Cheesecake Factory."

He briefly pecked Bonnie on the lips before placing the huge bag down on the counter and began taking out the containers.

"Did you get those delicious little avocado eggrolls with the dipping sauce that I liked so much last time?" Abby asked.

Damon smiled. "I sure did, as well as the fettuccine alfredo, and for Bonnie I got the barbecue ranch chicken salad that she loves and for me, Tristan and Felicia I got burgers and fries." He then paused looking at Felicia. "I hope that's okay because I wasn't really sure what you liked."

Looking stupid as hell now because Damon was nice enough to get her something too. "It's fine. Thanks." She muttered.

"No problem." He said, and when there was an awkward silence he finally picked up on the weird vibe in the room.

"Is everything okay?" His eyes immediately going to Bonnie.

But it was Abby who spoke up. "Everything's fine Damon. Felicia is just gonna wash up these dishes really quickly before we eat." She said, turning to her oldest daughter with a tight smile on her lips.

Felicia's jaw tensed. She looked like she wanted to say something but then she thought better of it and just walked over to the sink.

Abby then turned to Bonnie. "Why don't you and Damon go sit on the porch, she won't be long."

"You heard her. The woman of the house has spoken, so let's go." Bonnie said somewhat bitterly, causing Damon to look at her strangely.

But he followed her outside none the less.

* * *

"Why do I get the feeling that I came at a bad time?" Damon asked when they were alone on the porch.

Bonnie sighed, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. Felicia was just trying to start some shit, but I handled her."

Damon chuckled. "Oh you did...so you all big and bad now? All 5'2 and a hundred and ten pounds of you."

She laughed.

They were silent for a few moments, but it was comfortable.

"Thank you for bringing dinner, I appreciate it."

"You're welcome. I just figured you'd be tired. I know you like to deep clean the apartment on Saturdays."

Bonnie blushed prettily, covering her face with her hands.

"What?" He asked smiling at her.

"I just woke up an hour ago. I haven't did a thing all day."

Damon's eyes widened. "What?"

She playfully shoved his arm. "Why are you looking so shocked? You're the one who kept me up most of the night. I was exhausted!"

Now Damon was the one to blush.

"You ain't got nothing to say now, huh? Quiet as a church mouse."

Nope. Damon couldn't say nothing at all.

* * *

When they finished eating, Bonnie got to work on cleaning the apartment...and Damon helped.

She had to show him how to operate the vacuum cleaner and then had to instruct him on how to use it when he was doing it wrong.

He sat on the toilet keeping Bonnie company in the bathroom while she cleaned the shower, his eyes never moving from her ass as she scrubbed the tiles clean.

Damon took out the trash, not realizing that one little action scored him major brownie points with Abby.

Having another person to help shortened the cleaning time drastically. They were done in a little over an hour.

Grabbing Damon by his collar, Bonnie tongued him down so good that when she was through with him all he could do was just stand there with his mouth still tingling from her lips.

* * *

They were all sitting in the living room watching television with Bonnie and Damon on the sofa, Tristan laying asleep in Felicia's lap on the love-seat, and Abby sitting all comfy in the recliner.

When the news was over, Abby placed the armchair back in its upright position. "Well I'm going to call it a night. I got church in the morning. Felicia, you make sure that you wake that boy up and let him pee before he goes to bed."

"Alright." Felicia said, playing some game on her phone.

Abby then turned to the couple sitting on the sofa. "Damon, if you plan on spending the night make sure you lock up before laying down. This ain't Buckhead."

Silence.

Damon cleared his throat. "Um, yes ma'am. I will."

Abby leaned down and kissed Bonnie's forehead. "Goodnight love."

"Goodnight mama." Bonnie said, her voice almost choking slightly from emotion.

When Abby was gone, Damon and Bonnie stared at each other in shock.

"D-Did your mother just..." He couldn't even finish the sentenced. Just stunned.

Bonnie nodded her head smiling.

Neither one of them paying attention to Felicia and the pissed off look on her face.

* * *

While Damon was in the bathroom taking a shower, Bonnie slipped into her mother's room, closing the door.

"I figured I'd be seeing you." She said, taking off her reading glasses and placing them aside along with her crossword puzzle book.

Bonnie smiled softly.

"So you love him?" Abby asked, cocking a brow.

Bonnie walked over to the bed sitting down. "I didn't mean for it to happen...it just did."

"Have you told him?"

She shook her head no.

"Why not?"

Bonnie sighed. "I don't no."

Abby didn't believe that for a second. "Yes you do."

Silence.

Bonnie's eyes welled up with tears. "I'm afraid." She confessed.

"Afraid of what baby?" Abby asked concerned, reaching out taking her hand.

"That it'll end somehow."

"Oh baby, you can't think that way. You got to be positive."

Bonnie gave her mother a sad smile.

A few seconds later they could hear Damon coming out of the bathroom and walk past Abby's door headed to Bonnie's room.

The two stared at each other until they heard him closing the bedroom door.

"Thank you for allowing me to be the woman you raised me to be." And leaning forward she kissed Abby's cheek. "Goodnight mama, I'll see you in the morning."

Not trusting herself to speak, Abby nodded her head. Placing her right hand to her heart.

* * *

Bonnie took a long hot shower. By the time she was finished she could hear her mother's snores as she walked past her bedroom door.

When she walked into her room, Damon was sitting up in bed with the covers pulled to his waist. She was pretty sure that he was naked underneath.

She closed the door behind her.

"About time, I was starting to think that you drowned in there." He joked.

Bonnie smiled.

Damon lifted his arm with his hand reaching out towards her. "Come to bed."

She hesitated ever so slightly.

Knowing why, he put her mind at ease. "Bonnie, I just want to hold you in my arms. That's all I promise. Now come to bed, please."

Turning the light switch off by the door, she crossed the room and climbed underneath the covers.

And keeping his word, Damon held her all night.


	14. Chapter 14

Giuseppe Salvatore died without a will, which meant his wife got everything including the company that Damon was currently running and had been since his father first turned ill.

Like most people, Giuseppe thought that he had years to go before a will would be necessary.

Because as he saw it, he was still in his prime.

At fifty-five, he was still a damn good-looking man and he kept his body in shape.

So there was no need to start planning for his death. But that was life. Here today and gone tomorrow.

And the last person in the world that he would want to be in charge of his legacy was the one who ended up getting everything.

Lilly was the love of Giuseppe's life, but she didn't know the first thing about running an empire. She never went to college. He married her straight out of high school. Lilly liked to put on airs, but she was one generation from trailer park trash. Her beauty raised her status in life.

It was ironic because she absolutely detested Damon's relationship with Bonnie refusing to recognize the fact that she and this young woman had more in common than not.

Behind Damon's back, Lilly referred to Bonnie as that ghetto stripper whore.

In her eyes, her eldest son was blinded by sex and that his _relationship_ with her was just a phase that would quickly frizzle out.

But that assumption was quickly dispelled when she accidentally over heard him telling his brother that he was in love with her.

That was when Lilly realized something needed to be done.

* * *

Damon and Bonnie exited Lenox mall, walking to his car with their hands full of shopping bags.

What was supposed to be a quick trip to buy Abby's birthday present turned into a mini shopping spree for Bonnie that was totally unexpected.

It was planned all along to get her mother the Speedy Louis Vuitton bag as a gift because she always wanted one and while they were in the store Damon told Bonnie if she saw something she liked that she could get it as well and she did.

And the same thing happened when they went into Neiman Marcus so that Damon could get a belt and some socks.

"You want to stop and get something to eat?" Damon asked when they were inside of the car.

Bonnie buckled her seat belt. "Yeah, I'm starving. All I had for breakfast was a muffin." It was now two o'clock in the afternoon.

Damon started the car and began to drive.

"There's this really great Thai place nearby that has the best noodle bowls..." Damon began.

Bonnie pulled a face of disgust that he didn't see because she had her head bowed searching her bag for some gum.

"I kinda want some Chick-fil-A...I've been craving it all week."

That was an interesting choice of words Damon thought. " _Craving_?" He asked briefly glancing in her direction before turning his attention back on the road. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

Bonnie's brows pulled together in a slight frown as she folded a piece of chewing gum into her mouth.

"What do you mean?"

"As far as I know only pregnant women have cravings."

Bonnie's eyes bucked for a second and then she laughed, causing Damon to smile. "Well, that's _never_ going to happen?" She said shaking her head.

Now he was the one frowning in confusion. "What are you talking about... _that it's never going to happen?"_

"I don't want children." She said simply, turning to look at him.

Silence.

Damon wasn't sure how he felt about that. "Why?" He asked.

Shrugging her shoulders. "Because initially it wasn't apart of my plan. I was going to be a ballerina. It was all I cared about and children didn't factor into the equation. And when I had to give up dancing, I still just never saw myself having a kid...and besides I have Tristan, so it's not like I'm missing out on anything."

Silence.

Even now with Felicia home from rehab, Bonnie was still the primary parental figure in the boy's life. When he was hungry he went to her. When he got hurt, it was her that he ran to first. She was the constant that he could always depend on and that dynamic hadn't changed one bit.

And knowing all of this made Damon choose his words very carefully because he didn't want to upset Bonnie.

"But what happens when the day comes that Felicia decides to move out and take Tristan with her?"

Bonnie shook her head in total denial. "That's not going to happen."

"And why is that?"

"Because first of all Felicia doesn't know how to take care of herself, let alone Tristan because she's _always_ had me and mama as backup. And besides working at McDonald's when she was seventeen, she's never had a real job. She's never lived on her own or had to pay pills. She's twenty-two years old and has never had any real responsibilities. So her having the fortitude to suddenly want to move out is not going to happen and Tristan will remain with me and mama where he belongs."

Digesting this, Damon was quiet for a moment and then he thought of something or rather someone.

"What about Dino?" He asked.

"Well what about him? He's just as bad as Felicia. He only cares about himself. He sees Tristan every now and then, maybe once every few months. He doesn't pay any child support. His name is not even on Tristan's birth certificate, so legally speaking he doesn't have any rights to him. And if he did try to claim him, the fact that he's a convicted felon and has been in and out of jail most of his life won't work in his favor."

It was clear to Damon that Bonnie loved that little boy more than anything and that it would seriously hurt her if he was ever taken away.

Taking Bonnie's hand in his, he brought her slender fingers to his lips kissing them. Praying that the day never came.

* * *

Bonnie went all out the day of her mother's birthday, making Abby her favorite meal of oxtails, collard green, white rice and blueberry cornbread. She bought a cake from Kroger and some ice cream, really trying hard to make it special for her.

Felicia walked around the apartment with her face all scrunched up as if she smelled something bad.

She was in her feelings because she wasn't able to buy her mother a gift and the fact that Bonnie had made her this big dinner and Damon got her a purse from Louis Vuitton just made her feel like shit and the only way to cope was to act like none of it mattered, that it was all stupid.

"Bonnie, can I have some ice cream?"

Busy checking the rice to make sure it didn't over cook, she answered him. "Yes you can...after dinner."

"With two scoops?" He asked hopefully because he only ever got one.

Bonnie laughed. "We'll see, okay...but you have to eat everything on your plate including the collard greens."

The boy pulled a face with his tongue sticking out, having a strong aversion for the green vegetable.

"Well it's up to you little man, if you want the two scoops of ice cream then you have to eat every last bit of greens on your plate."

He sighed dramatically. "Okay fine, I'll do it." And he walked out of kitchen.

"That boy, that boy." She chuckled to herself.

* * *

Her house used to be a home and then her husband died.

What Lilly Salvatore hated most was the quietness and how empty she felt inside whenever she was alone, which was quite often these days.

Stefan had practically moved out, staying with friends and Damon was always slumming in the hood with that gold digging slut of his.

She came to the house a few times. Damon even had the nerve to bring her to Stefan's college graduation party.

Lilly was so pissed at his audacity.

What on earth made him bring her? Everyone they knew was there and here her son was parading this black bitch around as if she was some ultimate prize he'd won.

It was utterly humiliating!

So what if she was poised and beautiful. It was all an act! She was from the ghetto for heaven's sake!

But her pussy whipped son mistakenly thought that if he dressed her up in something very expensive that she could be one of them.

Not on her watch, Lilly thought.

What was he thinking?

Lilly just knew that everyone was laughing and talking about her behind her back. How could Damon do this to her?

He was so fucking selfish and ungrateful. He only cared about himself.

He didn't give damn that she was heart-broken and felt alone. That's why she drank. Why couldn't he see that?

No one else mattered to him. All Damon cared about was fucking that slut.

Lilly was rudely pulled from her thoughts as the son in question entered the living room, not even sparing her a glance as he grabbed his car keys from off the end table.

"I'm having dinner at Bonnie's...I probably won't be back tonight." He then turned to leave.

"Not so fast, we need to talk." She said speaking up.

"Can this hold until tomorrow? Bonnie's waiting on me. It's her mother's birthday."

A mixture of emotions consumed Lilly whole. Anger, jealousy, hurt. She tried to disguise it. "I don't care. This is important." Her tone clipped.

Damon's blue eyes sharped upon his mother's face.

If he didn't know any better, he would swear she sounded sober.

His eyes searched for any signs she'd been drinking. Disheveled appearance, flushed skin, red eyes from crying.

He spotted none of those things.

She looked like herself. Like she did before his father got ill.

Lilly now had his full attention. "Fine. What is it...what's so important?"

"The future." She answered calmly.

"Excuse me?" His head tilting slightly to one side, not understanding her.

"It's time for you to get serious about the future of this family and your father's legacy."

"Are you being serious right now?" Because this was so out of left field to Damon.

She nodded solemnly. "I am."

Damon didn't know what to say. He was stumped. So he decided to humor her for a moment to see where this actually went. "Okay, so let's hear it then."

"Before your father's stroke, we discussed you marrying Caroline Forbes."

It was a lie.

No such conversation had ever occurred between Giuseppe and Lilly. She only said it because Damon always followed his father's wishes.

Caroline was the daughter of Lilly's best friend. She and Damon grew up together.

This marriage was something the two mothers cooked up between themselves. Each for her own reason of course.

Lilly's being to get Bonnie Bennett out of her son's life for good.

She continued. "He wanted you to settle down with a girl of your breeding."

The whole conversation felt surreal. Was his mother punking him? She had to be.

Damon laughed incredulously. "A girl of my breeding? Mother, you do realize that we are _not_ the royal family? We're far from it, in fact both of your parents grew up in a trailer park. We're not that removed from being poor white trash if being honest."

Lilly did not like to be reminded of that. It was something she constantly tried to erase from her mind.

"Is that why you run around with that project whore...because you feel on her level? Is that why you're with her?" She asked in disdain.

That wiped the smile clean off Damon's face. But that's all it did.

"You're wrong as usual mother. I'm with Bonnie because I love her. And her living in the projects doesn't have a damn thing to do with who she is as a person. And for the record, as far as her being a whore is concerned, let's just put it like this...between the two of you...you've had more men between your legs than she ever has."

Lilly stood up in outrage. "How dare you?!"

"Oh I dare because you will NOT disrespect her."

Lilly composed herself, her voice no longer enraged. "I see now that you are so far gone that there's no saving you, but I refuse to allow you to destroy what my husband has built. So you have a choice to make my dear boy..."

Damon's brows drew together in a straight line, not liking where this conversation was headed.

"Either marry Caroline or you walk away...from EVERYTHING. I mean it Damon. You'll have nothing, but the Salvatore last name. That's the one thing I can't take away from you."

Damon was shook.

* * *

He showed up at her apartment around one o'clock in the morning.

Bonnie quietly let him in, not wanting to wake everyone up and they walked to her bedroom, closing the door.

"You missed dinner and my mother opening up her gift. Where were you? Why didn't you answer any of my calls?"

Damon reached out, caressing her soft cheek. "I'm sorry. Something came up and I just couldn't make it."

Bonnie leaned into his touch and his jaw tensed. She could tell something was wrong. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine...I'm just...I'm just...I just had to see you." And before Bonnie could respond, his mouth was ravenous upon hers like he was trying to get a taste of her soul.

His other hand reached underneath her nightgown, between her legs.

And a second later he tore off her panties.

"Damon wait, stop." Said Bonnie, trying to pull away because he'd never been this forceful with her.

He stopped, pressing his forehead against hers. Not wanting to frighten her.

"Shhh, it's okay Bonnie. I promise."

And then he knelt down in front of her.

"What are you doing?"

He didn't say anything, burying his face against her flat belly and not knowing what else to do, Bonnie placed her arms around him.

"Damon, you're scaring me...what's wrong? Talk to me, please."

He shook his head and Bonnie thought she heard him say that he couldn't do it. But it was so low that she wasn't for sure.

Being this close to her, Damon could smell the soap Bonnie used to shower with before going to bed. She always smelled so good.

It was a clean, fresh scent. Pure. Almost virginal. Like her.

Bonnie could feel it when his head lowered and she released him, not understanding what he was doing.

And then he placed her leg over his shoulder and within seconds he was tasting her with his mouth.

Bonnie inhaled sharply, her hand grabbing the back of his hair.

"Oh my god." She gasped for breath.

The way he was eating her pussy was like how he kissed her in the mouth with his tongue.

Bonnie had to bite into her lower lip to keep from crying out.

Never in life had anything felt so good to her.

It was earth shattering. Mind blowing. And anything else used to describe something so utterly amazing.

She began to shake with an orgasm.

And when he was done with Bonnie, Damon pulled her petite body against him and devoured her mouth once again, kissing her like neither of them needed air to breathe.

Gently lowering her to the floor, he pulled off her gown and then his shirt followed.

His hands shook as he tried to undo his pants, but within moments he was pushing them down and entering her wet heat in one fluid motion.

Bonnie buried her face against him, trying to be quiet. Her legs hugging his waist as he thrust into her.

"Oh god, Damon!" She whispered harshly into his ear, holding on to him tightly.

It was beyond belief how he was making her feel.

When she came, it was even better.

Never having felt anything like that in her entire life, in that very open and vulnerable moment Bonnie spoke aloud what was in her heart, telling Damon that she loved him.

* * *

The following morning when she woke up, she was alone in bed.

Damon sat in the chair by the window looking as if he'd been watching her sleep. And he had.

"What time is it?" She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"A little after ten, your mom, Felicia and Tristan left for church about twenty minutes ago."

Standing to his feet already dressed in his pants, Damon pulled on his shirt and then grabbed his socks and shoes from off the floor.

Bonnie sat up, covering her breasts with the sheet. "Wait, you're leaving now...we haven't even talked about what happened last night."

"There's nothing to talk about." He said quietly, sitting at the foot of the bed and slipping on his socks.

"What do you mean there's nothing to talk about? Something happened to you last night. Why won't you tell me?"

"Because there's nothing to tell."

Bonnie had never seen Damon act like this before. So closed off and distant. Something was terribly wrong and she couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it...stop lying to me and tell me what's going on!"

"I'm getting married!" He yelled angrily, standing to his feet to face her.

"What?" She gasped.

"I said I'm getting married." He repeated this time without the anger in his voice. "If I don't, I lose everything Bonnie, including my father's business."

Stunned to her very core, all she could do was stare at him. The devastation on her face heart-wrenching.

"We can't be together anymore." He said wanting to look away from her, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

With every word that came out of his mouth, Bonnie drew a little bit further into herself.

"It's over." He said quietly.

And just like that her worst fear came true.


	15. Chapter 15

Most women in a moment such as this would have broken down and cried after just being told by the man she loved that he was marrying another woman.

But she didn't.

Why wasn't she crying right now? Shouldn't she be hysterical? Beating at her chest? Lamenting as the Bible said.

But she did none of those things.

Why?

What female in her right mind could remain so composed as she was now after being told something like that?

Did it make her insane? The fact that she wasn't reacting.

" _We can't be together anymore."_

" _It's over."_

Her mind just kept replaying his words over and over like a scratched old-school vinyl record.

She sat there staring at Damon while he spoke of his mother's plans for his future and how that didn't include her.

That was basically what he was saying. That was the gist of it.

But by that point, Bonnie had mentally checked out.

That feeling of fading into herself wasn't something new to her.

It happened before.

The first time it occurred was when her mother sat her and Felicia down and told them that their father had left and wasn't coming back. That was years ago. She was ten.

It happened to her again the night she found out Jody was killed.

Knowing that she couldn't allow herself to remain in that almost catatonic like state for fear it would consume her, Bonnie literally had to shake herself free in order to snap out of it.

She blinked a few times becoming alert and in the moment once again.

"Can you hand me my robe?" She asked because she wasn't going to sit there naked while he broke up with her.

Damon was a little taken aback by her request. It was not the first thing he expected to hear out of her mouth.

He had to force himself to move his feet and do as she asked, taking the terry cloth robe from off the plastic hook behind the door and handing it to her.

"Can you turn away?" As she saw it, his privileges were now revoked.

"Bonnie..." Damon began.

"Turn around Damon!" She snapped angrily, her green eyes flashing at him.

Closing his mouth, Damon turned to face the wall.

Yelling at him felt good, but acting childish wasn't going to resolve anything.

With trembling hands, she slipped on the robe. Telling herself to get a grip.

Relationships ended everyday. It was nothing new under the sun.

She would survive this like she did everything else, so what if her heart was breaking just a little piece at a time as she sat there.

Eventually it would mend. She just had to give it time.

And speaking of time, Damon needed to go because she refused to let him witness her breakdown.

Letting the covers fall from her body, she stood to her feet tying the belt securely around her waist in a tidy bow.

"If we're done here, can you go because I have a lot to do today." She said swallowing hard, praying that her face didn't betray the total wreck she was on the inside.

Damon swung around so fast looking hacked. "You're asking me to leave?"

"Yes I am. What more is there left to say? You're getting married so that you can keep your father's company and we're done. It's over. And I completely understand. The company is rightfully yours, your father groomed you to take over and I can't compete with something like that. I wouldn't dare try because I know my place in your life."

He frowned slightly not liking the way that sounded to him. What it implied. "What do you mean that you know your place?"

"Damon are you forgetting how me met? It was at a strip club. I danced for you for money and when times got really hard for me, I was willing to fuck you for money. My moral compass is kinda wack, don't you think? I'm not exactly the type of girl men build long lasting sable relationships with. I knew that going into this, but I was okay with it because you were good to me and you treated me well."

That was Bonnie's brain talking, but then unexpectedly her heart took over.

Her voice began to catch with emotion.

"I never had that before and I liked it. I liked the way you made me feel and I enjoyed spending time with you. It was something to look forward to. But then out of nowhere I caught feelings and it scared the shit out of me because I knew that you could never be serious with someone like me. Sure you dressed me up and made me look presentable to your family and friends, but I'm not one of you and I never will be. So I stayed in my lane, knowing my place that way I didn't get hurt. But the gag is, I ended up getting hurt anyway. Because this hurts me...losing you hurts and I'm so mad at God right now for bringing you into my life and making me fall in love with you only to snatch you away like everything else good in my life."

There was no way that Damon could just stand there and watch Bonnie breakdown like that and not comfort her.

It wasn't even a thought, but an automatic response to her distress.

He engulfed her in his strong embrace, being the rock she needed to lean on.

"You weren't the only one to catch feelings you silly girl. I've been in love with you from the get-go, but I was afraid of getting so serious too fast because I thought I would scare you off."

"What?" Pulling back slightly not believing her own ears. "What did you just say?"

Damon bent his knees so that they were eye to eye. "That I'm in love with you and have been for a good little while...I was just waiting for you to catch up."

Bonnie searched his eyes looking for lies and found none. Of course her heart rejoiced, but it was bitter sweet because it changed absolutely nothing.

Feeling so deflated and hopeless, she pressed her forehead against his chest, closing her eyes.

"You shouldn't have told me that because now it just makes everything so much worse. We love each other, but we still can't be together."

Damon realized that he was a fool to make himself believe that he could give Bonnie up so easily.

"I'm going to think of something Bonnie because I refuse to give you up. I won't."

She looked up at him with tear stained eyes. "But there's nothing you can do. Your mother is holding all the cards and she's willing to take everything away from you. And I can't be the reason why you lose what's rightfully yours. You love me now, but you'll grow to hate me in the end Damon and I don't know if I could take that."

"I could never hate you." He said emphatically.

"But you could and that's something I'm not willing to risk."

Damon's mind began to formulate a plan in that moment. He pulled away from Bonnie so that he could think.

Caroline was the ultimate pampered princess and knowing her like he did, she would want her dream wedding and that could take upwards to a year or more in planning. So what if he just pretended to go along with his mother's wishes, acting like he broke up with Bonnie and was on board with the marriage. A year was more than enough time to figure out a way to gain control of his father's company. Fuck everything else, his mother could have it all, but as Bonnie said the company was rightfully his and he'd be damned if he let his mother take it away from him.

He would have it all, the woman he loved and the company his father groomed him to takeover. It was their future. His and Bonnie's.

"What is it?" She asked when she saw his eyes light up.

"I got a plan to buy us some time." He told her.

And for the next ten minutes, Damon filled Bonnie in on everything.

All the while she listen to him she kept thinking _it's not going to work_. When he was done, she just simplified things. "So we're going to pretend to break up?"

Damon cupped her face within his big hands and bent his knees so that he was once again at eye level with her.

"It's the only way Bonnie. You and I know that it's not real. That's all that matters. For now, this is all we got. I just need to make my mother believe that she's won. That she's gotten her way and I'm on board with this marriage just until I figure out something. Maybe talk to a few lawyers and see what my options are. I don't know. But there's got to be some way to stop her. I know it."

Bonnie nodded her head, trying to be supportive but her thoughts of this not working refused to cease and she knew what that meant.

Something was going to go wrong.

A tear fell from her eye.

"Don't cry okay. We are going to make it through this. We just have to be strong. Can you do that for me. Can you be strong?"

She told herself to think positively if only for Damon's sake. "Yes...I can be strong for us. At least I'll be able to see you everyday at work. That's something to hold on to."

Damon dropped his hands from her face, straightening to his full height.

"W-What's wrong?" Bonnie asked when she saw the look on his face.

"Bonnie, that's the thing. My mother wants you out of my life completely and that means working at the company too."

Being able to see Damon everyday was the one thing making all this bearable for Bonnie and now hearing that Lily was putting a stop to her working at the company was too much and she went off.

"What?! She can't do that! It's against the fucking law, right? I can sue her! Who does she think she is to do this to us?! It's not right...it's not fair!"

Damon pulled Bonnie into his arms, holding her tight. "Calm down...we can't let her break us. You told me that you would be strong." He said softly to her.

"I know, but that was before when I thought at least we'd be able to see each other at work...now we don't even have that!" She cried against his chest.

"Look at me." Damon said, pulling slightly back so that Bonnie would focus on him. "We are going to get through this together, but you and I can't buckle underneath the pressure or my mother wins. No one said that this was going to be easy. We're going to have to make some sacrifices along the way and that means our time together. We will still see each other just not as often and not so publicly. It has to look like we're broken up Bonnie or this is not going to work. I need for you to give me time to figure things out. Can you do that?"

She nodded her head, biting her lower lip. She could, she told herself. As long as she knew that her and Damon were endgame, she could do this.

"Now look, you're going to be okay. Tomorrow I'm going to set it up so that once a month money is transferred out of my own personal checking account into yours, so that you'll have enough to cover the bills and buy groceries."

Oh god, Bonnie had been so focus on her and Damon that she didn't even think about her family and how she would take care of them without a job.

Lily had her mind so fucked up that she wasn't thinking straight anymore.

"Okay." Bonnie said nodding her head.

"We have to lay low for a few weeks to make things look believable. And when my mother has let down her guard, I'll try to come see you."

She nodded her head in understanding. The sadness on her face killing Damon.

"I have to go now." He said, his jaw tensing.

Bonnie's hands had been resting against Damon's chest and when he said that to her, she gripped his shirt not wanting to let him go.

Damon lowered his head to kiss her lips, not wanting to leave her either.

He forced himself to pull away from her. "I love you, Bonnie."

"I love you, too." She said with her voice catching.

* * *

After Damon left the apartment, Bonnie took a long hot shower trying to process everything that happened.

How was it possible that this woman hated her so much that she would go to such lengths to get her out of Damon's life.

It was mind boggling what some people would do in this world.

She prayed that Damon found a way to get control over his father's company. And soon.

* * *

Bonnie was quiet throughout most of the day.

For dinner she warmed up the food from Abby's birthday because there was plenty since Damon wasn't there to eat up everything.

She had to be mindful from now on not to make so much because Damon wouldn't be around as much and it made her feel really sad because she'd gotten used to seeing his face practically everyday.

That night, not being able to sleep she went into her mother's bedroom and told her everything.

She had to confide in someone or she would go crazy.

The older woman held her daughter in her arms as she cried, eventually crying herself to sleep.

Abby never knew that she could hate another human being so much and never have met them a day in her life.

* * *

With all of his planning, Damon didn't factor in one thing...Caroline Forbes herself.

They had known each other practically their whole lives.

But what Damon didn't know was that Caroline was desperately in love with him and had been since she was thirteen years old.

That was why Elizabeth Forbes agreed to the marriage.

She'd always given Caroline whatever she wanted and she knew that her only daughter wanted Damon Salvatore.

The two women knew that they were on a time crunch and that the wedding had to happen as soon as possible.

It was a must.

So Damon was dead wrong in his assumption that Caroline would plan for her dream wedding.

She may have been a blonde, but she wasn't dumb by any stretch of the imagination. She didn't want to give Damon any time to back out.

The two were married within a month.

* * *

Bonnie carried the heavy laundry basket full of wet clothes outside to the backyard and sat it down on the ground.

Grabbing a pair of Tristan's jeans to hang on the line, she realized she forgot to get the clothespins.

She sighed softly to herself. These days she would forget her head if it wasn't attached to her body.

Not having seen or heard anything from Damon in a month, her mind was just all over the place and she was worried all the time because she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

She just needed to see his face and everything would be okay.

Dropping the jeans into the basket, Bonnie went back into the house to get the clothespins.

And as if she'd conjured him up herself, Damon was walking into the kitchen and Bonnie ran to him, throwing herself into his arms and wrapping her legs around his waist.

"Thank God... I was so scared that something was wrong!" She laughed and cried at once, hugging him so tightly because she was so happy to see him.

Damon buried his face in her neck, hugging her just as tight.

"I should kill you. You said that you would come see me in a few weeks, it's been a month!"

Damon didn't say anything. He just held her.

Abby walked into the kitchen and smiled when she saw him.

Damon's left hand moved up Bonnie's spine coming to rest at her nape, making the metal gold band round his finger visible.

Abby's smile immediately dropped from her face and their eyes met and held before she walked away, her heart breaking for her daughter.

Bonnie finally let him go, breaking the tight hold around his neck. "How long can you stay before you have to get back?"

She was so light that Damon was able to hold her up with just one arm underneath her butt while his other hand was free to caressed her hair and then her cheek, his blue eyes soaking up her pretty face.

Damn he missed her so much.

"A few hours. I said that I was going to the office to catch up on some work."

A few hours were better than no contact at all as far as Bonnie was concerned. She was starved for him. "I'll take it." She said hugging his neck once again.

"Do you plan on kissing me any time soon. I mean don't get me wrong I love all the hugs, but my lips missed you too."

Bonnie laughed as she pulled back and then leaned in to kiss him. It didn't take long for her to just melted against him.

"Gawd, I missed you." She said, touching his face.

Damon leaned his forehead against hers. It was time to tell her. "Can we go to your room to talk?"

Had Bonnie not been so _high_ on seeing him, she would have recognize that tone Damon got in his voice when he was dreading doing something he didn't want to do.

She smiled. "Of course...but you're going to have to carry me though because I'm not getting down."

Bonnie didn't even catch the sadness in the little smile he gave her.

When they got into the bedroom, Damon closed the door with the heel of his shoe and placed her down to the floor.

"I can't believe you're actually here...I'm so happy right now!" She said smiling up at him. Then both of her hands slid into his.

Her thumb grazed something cold and hard on his left hand, causing her to glance down. And she saw the ring.

Blinking a few times refusing to believe her own eyes, they snapped up to meet his and the look on Damon's face said it all.

She dropped his hands so fast, backing away from him.

Shaking her head in denial, she froze when the bile began to raise up inside of her throat. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

Bonnie ran out of the bedroom before Damon could stop her.

Running down the hallway to the bathroom, she fell to her knees in front of the toilet just in time before her breakfast from that morning came spewing out of her.

Damon was behind her within seconds, pulling her hair back from her face. "I'm sorry." He just kept repeating over and over to her.

When her stomach was empty of its content, her body relaxed against the toilet.

Bonnie turned her face away from Damon. "Go away...I don't want you here."

He heard the tears in her voice.

Damon tried to explain. "I thought that I would have enough time to come up with something. But everything happened so damn fast and I couldn't stop any of it!"

"Please go." She begged.

"Bonnie, I love you!"

She squeezed her eyes shut. Hearing him say that just twisting the knife even more. "Then leave me alone."


	16. Chapter 16

Damon quietly stepped inside of the bedroom shutting the door closed behind him, turning the lock. It wasn't really necessary to do that because everyone knew when Bonnie's door was closed that meant he was there and they were not to be disturbed.

The brightness of the sun shining through the window provided enough light for him to see Bonnie's small frame lying in bed underneath the covers.

Tristan was outside playing in the front yard when Damon first got there and he said that she wasn't feeling well.

When he walked into the apartment neither Abby nor Felicia spoke to him.

That wasn't something new with Felicia, but he and Abby were different. The two spoke all the time and engaged in conversations. But he couldn't blame her. Any mother would give him the cold shoulder after he hurt her daughter.

Slipping off his shoes, he crawled underneath the covers and laid down behind Bonnie, draping his arm over her.

She made a soft sound in her sleep, but otherwise didn't wake up.

Damon held her close, breathing in the scent of her hair and then the skin of her neck and shoulder where he placed a tiny kiss.

Her body felt so soft and warm against his.

Damon missed this.

Holding her. Being close to her. Just her mere presence alone.

The only thing missing now was the sound of her voice and those beautiful green eyes of hers staring at him.

He'd been denied all of those things for days because she didn't want to see him.

She wouldn't even answer his calls. They went directly to voice mail.

Damon blew up her phone so much that eventually the mailbox got full and he could no longer leave a message.

That's why he showed up today because he couldn't take it anymore. He had to see her even at the risk of fueling her anger towards him.

Lying next to Bonnie in that bed was the only place in the world that he wanted to be. It was home to him.

He hadn't been this calm and relaxed in weeks.

Damon fell asleep.

* * *

The first thing Bonnie felt upon waking up was the hand between her legs, cupping her pussy. Her body tensed.

Even if she didn't feel the warm press of his much larger body behind her, she'd recognize that hand anywhere.

That's how Damon slept when he was in the bed with her. He claimed it wasn't intentional that he did it in his sleep.

His hand moved, sliding inside of her panties.

Without thinking twice about it, Bonnie would have opened her legs for him to make it easier for his fingers to gain access to her flesh. But that was before.

"Let me make you feel good," He spoke softly against her ear.

It could be so easy to give in and let him touch her.

Put his mouth on her.

Fuck her.

Just forget everything for a little while and let him worship her body for an hour or two and then kick his ass out.

But she couldn't do that without paying the ultimate price and her sanity was much more important than scratching some itch.

Removing his hand, Bonnie got up from the bed putting damn near the entire room between them as she went to the dresser and pulled out a pair of pajama bottoms.

"What are you doing here Damon...who let you in?" She asked, slipping on the bottoms that matched the tank top she wore.

Damon swallowed hard at the sting of her questions though neither were asked harshly.

Moving to sit up on the side of the bed, he answered her.

"No one let me in. The screen door was unlocked when I arrived, so I came inside...and I'm here because I missed you. I wanted to see you. You refused to answer any of my calls given me no choice but to show up. I needed to make sure you were okay." There was a slight pause as their eyes held a moment, then he continued.

"Tristan said that you were sick...what's wrong with you?"

She hesitated just enough to where it was noticeable, causing the words that flowed from her mouth not to ring true. "It's nothing I'm fine."

Standing to his feet, Damon went to her and he tried to ignore the way her body tensed up.

He had to stop himself from reaching out to touch her because it was painfully obvious that was the last thing she wanted.

"Stop lying to me. You're not very good at it."

"Yeah well, maybe you're a little too good at it." Her green eyes glaring with betrayal as she stared up at him.

Damon gritted his teeth causing his jaw to tense. "Be that as it may that still doesn't explain why you were laying in bed during the middle of the day. Are you still throwing up?" Thoughts of her maybe being pregnant fluttered at the back of his mind.

Needing to put some space between them, she side-stepped him and got busy making up her bed.

"Answer me dammit!" He bellowed when she kept quiet, effectively ignoring him. Something she knew that he hated.

Damon didn't realize what he did when he raised his voice at Bonnie.

It didn't happen very often, only when she was beyond pissed off as she was right now.

The _hood_ side of her came out in full effect.

"Nigga, who you think you talkin to?! You better dial back that fucking bass in your voice! I don't have to answer you! I owe you absolutely nothing...except for maybe a slap to your mutha fuckin face!"

Damon got distracted by her attitude and forgot all about thoughts of her possibly being pregnant, his anger and frustration level matching hers.

"Then do it! Slap me Bonnie, if it will make you feel better about how fucked up everything is right now...have at it! Slap the shit out of me! Do it!" He shouted.

"Oh don't tempt me!" She laughed bitterly.

"No!" Damon snapped marching towards Bonnie and getting in her face. "I hurt you, it's only right you hurt me back. Slap me!"

She scoffed, shaking her head. "Leave it to you to say something so stupid...that's not how it works you idiot!" Suddenly it just all became too much and Bonnie realized she needed to stop the madness before she went crazy. "You know what Damon, just go home to _your wife_."

And he froze like a statue.

"Because I'm done." She said, swallowing hard.

His throat gulped as well as her words sunk in, hitting its mark like she intended it to.

But Damon refused to believe that she was done with him. "Oh really?" He mused after a short moment, nodding his head.

Though in his mind, Damon was calling bullshit because feelings just didn't change overnight.

He knew in his heart that Bonnie was just as crazy in love with him as he was with her. And having to marry Caroline didn't change a damn thing.

Bonnie was hurt by what he did and her feelings were justifiable, but he was not going to allow her to pretend like she could just get over him so easily.

He couldn't do it and neither would she.

"You're done...with me? Is that what you're saying?" He asked, wanting clarification before he reacted.

"Yeah I am."

Now that he knew he was correct in his assumption he was going to enjoy proving her wrong. "Let's see about that."

Grabbing Bonnie's startled face between his hands, Damon pressed his mouth to hers, kissing her with everything in him. He put his heart and soul into it because it all belonged to her.

Feeling it all, Bonnie couldn't deny him if she tried. She loved this man. He owned a piece of her heart and a part of her soul. He touched her in ways no one else ever could. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. He got her. He understood her so much that she never had to explain herself. He protected her, shielding her from harm. He provided for her, giving her everything she could ever want or need. And when Bonnie added all of those things up, when it boiled down to it Damon was hers in every way that mattered.

So she kissed him back just as feverishly as if she was trying to brand him. Marking her territory.

She was almost rough in her technique.

And it drove Damon out of his mind.

Their movements became frantic as they began pulling at each others clothes trying to get them off. The need to feel skin overriding everything.

Damon pulled off Bonnie's shirt and then she took off his.

He kissed at her breasts while simultaneously yanking down her pajama bottoms pulling her underwear along with them, leaving her completely naked.

Their mouths locked once again briefly as Damon backed Bonnie against the wall. He braced both of his hands above her head and she quickly got to work on unbuckling his belt and undoing his pants, pulling them down his legs.

Bonnie thought he was going to fuck her against the wall, so she was a bit startled when he suddenly picked her up. She went with it though wrapping her bare legs around his waist. Her mouth finding his once again, running her fingers through his hair, messing it up

He carried her to the bed and placed her down, laying on top of her because he planned on going deep and he couldn't do that fucking her against the wall.

There was no time for any foreplay because if he didn't have her soon, he'd die.

Without any warning to what was coming her way, he entered Bonnie's tightness. Completely robbing her of breath. She couldn't make a sound. Her back lifting up from off the bed in a perfect arch as he made her take all of him.

A blind haze settled over Damon immediately as glorious pleasure seized him in its grasp, holding him hostage like a prisoner not letting go.

He found heaven. The pathway to the pearly gates was between Bonnie's legs.

His body moved on its own accord because his mind was useless at that point. He couldn't string two sentences together if someone put a gun to his head.

That's how good her pussy was.

Bonnie held on to him, struggling not to make a sound for fear if she did her family would wrongly think he was killing her and bust down the door.

That's how good his dick was pounding into her.

There was an air of desperation to their lovemaking that was never there before, heightening the intensity of their emotions causing them to mate in such a feral way.

When Bonnie finally came, she thought she would die from the pleasure.

Damon soon followed, collapsing on top of her. His body spent.

"Fuck." He groaned.

Neither one of them moved for a few minutes as they came back down to earth.

Damon carefully pulled out of Bonnie, falling onto his back laying beside her.

The two of them staring up at the ceiling.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine." She stated, not wanting to hear the sound of his voice. Reality sinking in like a motherfucker.

Now that her body was sated, Bonnie mentally beat herself up for being so stupid to allow this to happen.

She felt disgusted with herself.

"I'm a damn fool." She uttered aloud.

"No you're not." Damon responded, turning onto his side to face her.

His hand came to rest upon her breast just above her heart.

"You're a beautiful woman in love with an asshole who made the biggest mistake of his life. But I'm going to fix this Bonnie. I promise. I just need some time to figure things out. And as soon as I find a way to gain control of the company I'll divorce Caroline and we can be married."

Bonnie could do nothing but stare at him. Was he serious? It was such a cliché thing to say that it was almost laughable in its absurdity.

Wasn't that how men were able to have their cake and eat it too by promising to divorce their wife and marry the other woman?

But what made her blood boil was the fact that he thought that she would actually fall for it.

"You must really think I'm stupid to try and pull that tired ass shit on me?"

"What?" He asked, looking confused.

She couldn't lay there next to him a moment longer. Pushing his hand off her, she got up from the bed.

"You really are a selfish bastard, you know that? You only care about your got-damn self!" She accused angrily.

Intending to go put on her robe to cover herself, Bonnie took a few steps towards the door and then stopped.

Damon watched as she touch herself between the legs and heard the soft whimper she made when she did do.

"What's wrong?" He immediately got up going to her.

"I don't know. I was fine a second ago when I was laying down, but as soon as I started to walk it hurt."

"Lay down on the bed." He told her.

Bonnie's mind immediately went to the gutter. "You must be crazy if you think I'm letting you fuck me again!"

"I'm not trying to fuck you, you little heifer. I need to see what's wrong. Now lay your ass down!"

Under different circumstances Bonnie would have giggled at Damon calling her a heifer, knowing exactly where he got that from.

Ms. Daphne, their next door neighbor.

She was always sitting on their porch gossiping with her mother. Every other person she talked about was a heifer. Male, female, adult and child alike. No one was immune.

Bonnie rolled her eyes at Damon, but did what he said anyway.

Getting on the bed, she spread her legs for him so that he could check her out.

He leaned down over her and tried to ignore the arousing scent of her pussy wafting up into his nostrils.

Relief washed over him when he didn't see any visible signs of tearing or bleeding.

Gently he touched her, opening her vagina with his fingers. Everything looked normal inside of her.

But then he noticed a tiny little surface tear on the inner edge of her labia, which was why she only hurt when she walked because of the lips rubbing together.

This was his fault because he didn't take the time out to get her wet enough for sex with him.

Bonnie was right, he was a selfish bastard.

"Why didn't you tell me I was hurting you?"

She frowned, sitting up on her elbows. "Because you weren't."

"Bonnie, I didn't eat you out or rub on your pussy. I did nothing to get you wet. And I was rough...I've never been rough with you. You had to be in pain." He was visibly upset by this.

"But I wasn't. I swear to you. Why would I lie about something like that? If you were hurting me trust me I would have made you stop."

Damon realized she was right, but that didn't mean that he was off the hook.

He couldn't treat her any kind of way.

Bonnie wasn't just some woman that he fucked to bust a nut. He loved her.

Lifting his knee onto the bed between her legs, Damon crawled on top of Bonnie and buried his face against her neck.

"You are the single most precious thing in my life and I need to be more careful with you. I love you so much Bonnie, but it seems like all I ever do is hurt you and I'm sorry. I don't want my love to bring you nothing but heartache and pain because you don't deserve that. You were right, I am a selfish bastard. You deserve so much better than me. But I don't have the strength to let you go. I need you in every way that I man needs the woman he loves. I can't make it through this life without you being by my side. You're my rib, Bonnie. You're apart of me. And when all of this craziness is over, I'm going to make you my wife. I promise you that on my father."

Staring up at the ceiling, Bonnie didn't know whether to laugh or cry.


	17. Chapter 17

Bonnie was very careful in how she applied her makeup, wanting it to appear as if she wasn't wearing any at all because Damon didn't like an overdone face. In fact, he preferred if she didn't wear any makeup products at all. Liking her natural look. He thought she was beautiful as God made her.

But because it was date night and they were going out, Bonnie wanted to look nice. It was the only time these days that she was able to get dressed up and feel pretty now that she was no longer working.

The date nights had become really important to her because it was their exclusive time together, away from everyone and everything.

When it was just the two of them the world made sense again. It was only when other people were around that everything seemed so fucked up.

And it didn't help matters that whenever she and Felicia got into an argument it was always thrown in her face how she'd been reduced to side-chick status.

Just one measly level above being a thot.

It weighed heavily on Bonnie's mind because she knew Felicia was right. And it hurt her.

Of course she never told Damon any of this. Not wanting to add to his worries because he had enough on his plate. He talked to a handful of corporate attorneys and they all basically said the same thing. That because his father didn't have a will in place when he died there was nothing that he could really do. That as long as his mother was in her right mind, he couldn't legally take control over the company unless she gave him the rights to do so.

And that wasn't happening.

When Damon told her all of that, Bonnie tried to hide her disappointment and be positive but it was so hard. She didn't want to burden him with her feelings because he was already under so much stress.

He was only twenty-five years old and already had a couple of gray hairs on his head.

It didn't matter though to Bonnie. She loved his little gray hairs. If anything they made him even more handsome to her.

Damon slept a lot whenever he came over to her place. He said that it was the only time he could really rest because she was laying beside him.

Bonnie's bedroom had become their safe haven.

It was the only place where Damon could truly relax his mind. Being similar to when he used to go visit his father in the hospital. Having his old man by his side always quieted his thoughts. And now he found that since of peace with Bonnie. Her presence alone centered him. And when she wasn't there, Damon felt on edge.

His marriage to Caroline was draining.

She was so needy, almost greedy for his attention that it was exhausting to be in the same room as her.

Damon found himself resenting her.

Bonnie never asked about Caroline. She didn't even know her name or what she looked like.

It was as if Bonnie mentally blocked her out, making her non-existent.

And Damon never questioned it, believing it was best to leave Caroline where she belonged...in the fucking background.

Now fully dressed, Bonnie glanced at the clock and saw that it was fifteen minutes past eight. Damon was late.

They only had a few precious hours to be together, so every minute counted. They couldn't afford to waste one.

Where was he?

Bonnie didn't dare call him. That was something she could no longer do because Damon had so many eyes watching his every move. So she had to be patient once again and wait it out.

Feeling as though the walls were closing in on her, Bonnie quickly left her bedroom and ran into Tristan in the hallway.

"Where you going, stinky butt?"

The little boy laughed. "My butt doesn't stink!"

"Well how do you know that?" She asked amused.

"Because I take a bath every night before bed that's how!" He shot back smiling up at her.

Bonnie laughed, rubbing his head. His hair was growing out. It was time to take him to the barbershop. Though to best honest, the little afro he was rocking looked kinda cute on him. Tristan was such a handsome little boy. Ms. Daphne said that he looked like a mini version of Eric Benet, but Bonnie didn't see that.

"Damon and I are going out tonight. I won't be back until late...so can I have my goodnight kiss now?"

Tristan nodded his head. Bonnie leaned down and he gave her a peck on the cheek. Making her smile.

He then surprised her with an unexpected hug around the neck. "I love you Bonnie."

Her heart turned into mush as she patted his back. "I love you too sweetheart."

Tristan began to wriggle out of her embrace. "I gotta go pee now!"

Bonnie released him, chuckling softy as he ran into the bathroom, slamming the door closed.

And as she was walking into the living room, her phone buzzed with a text message alert.

Standing there looking like a million bucks Bonnie felt like total shit as she read it in silence.

Something unexpectedly came up. Damon was cancelling date night.

* * *

Too bad she didn't drink. That was Bonnie's thought as she watched everyone else around her having fun.

All dressed up with no place to go, Emily decided to drag Bonnie to the club for a girls night out.

Emily was Bonnie's childhood friend who was home from college for the summer. She attended Howard University.

She was an incoming senior. This was her summer to really do it up before graduating because she already had a job lined up and next year around this time she'd be working.

Bonnie was slightly jealous of her friend because Emily had her shit together. She knew what she wanted in life. She had goals. Her life wasn't depended upon a man.

Emily never had to give up her dreams or had to take her clothes off for money.

Her only responsibility was school. She would be the first person in her family to obtain a college degree.

Bonnie found it kinda difficult to hang with her because seeing Emily enjoy being young and free and having the world at her feet, stung like a motherfucker.

"Bonnie Bennett, I did not bring you here to just sit there and mope all night! Stop acting like an old lady and have some fun!"

Bonnie's eyes widened at Emily's words because that's EXACTLY how she felt lately. Like an old woman!

Gawd, she was twenty years old for heaven's sake but she didn't feel young.

She gave up so much of herself in order to do the right thing for her family and now with everything that was going on with Damon, it all just felt like too much to handle and it was draining the very life out of her.

Bonnie realized in that moment that she desperately wanted to be young and free with no responsibilities.

* * *

The next day she and Emily sat in her living room talking like good girlfriends do.

It was too hot to go outside on the porch.

Even Tristan opted for staying inside of the air-conditioned apartment. He was in his room playing the video game Damon bought for him. Abby was in the kitchen starting dinner and Felicia was gone.

The two girls were laughing loudly as they reminisced about their days in high school.

"Nah, but what got me was sophomore year when you and Yvette almost got to fighting over Jody. Both of y'all were scared. But when Jody showed up that was when you all of a sudden got all big and bad acting like you were going to do something. Knowing you weren't going to do nothing!" Emily chuckled.

Bonnie smiled at the memory that seemed like a lifetime ago.

Back then Yvette trying to steal Jody away from her was her only problem in the world.

Suddenly the front door pushed open and Bonnie assumed it was Felicia, but it wasn't her who walked inside.

It was Damon. The soft smile dropped from Bonnie's face.

Even though she was angry, that didn't stop her heart from skipping a beat at the sight of him.

It was ninety-three degrees outside and Damon was wearing a black v-neck tee shirt with jeans.

His eyes looked so fucking blue as they held hers hostage with his stare.

An awkward silence ensued as their gazes held.

And then without saying one word to anyone he walked passed the living room going to Bonnie's bedroom.

Emily cleared her throat feeling uncomfortable by the whole scene as if she was the one to intrude upon them. She stood up. "I guess I better get going."

Bonnie blinked a few times as if she was coming out of a trance. She forced herself to focus on her friend. "You don't have to leave Emmy."

"Yeah I think I do. It's okay though. I'll see you tomorrow."

She nodded her head in response and Emily left.

Bonnie still didn't move from her place on the sofa.

After a few minutes, Damon called her name from the bedroom.

It kinda pissed her off a little bit because she could detect the subtle command in his voice.

So she stayed put out of defiance. Her jaw tensing with anger laced with some resentment.

Who the hell did he think he was anyway?

Was she supposed to jump just because he said so?

Nah, fuck that!

Better yet fuck him!

He was the one who stood her up last night. The bastard didn't even call. He sent a fucking text!

Bonnie sat there making herself angrier by the second with thoughts of his transgressions against her.

And to make it worse, when he finally decides to show up he just walks into her home and doesn't even knock first.

It was as if he thought he owned the place. Bonnie didn't give a damn that he was paying all the bills. It was about respect!

The motherfucker didn't even speak to anyone when he came inside of the apartment. Who does that? It was beyond rude.

Just then Felicia walked through the front door.

"Bonnie!" Damon yelled angrily from the bedroom.

Felicia stopped mid-step wondering what the fuck was going on. "Why he yelling?"

Bonnie knew Damon was under a lot of pressure, but that didn't mean that he could come there and take his frustrations out on her.

With her face pinched in anger, she stood up from the sofa and grabbed her purse from off the coffee table.

"I'm going out for a while...make sure Tristan eats all the food on his plate before giving him dessert." She said to Felicia before walking out the door.

* * *

Damon was so subtle in how he eased Bonnie into accepting things that it took a minute for her eyes to be open to the reality of her new life.

It really was a mind fuck if Bonnie let herself think about it long enough because really nothing had changed between them.

They still hung out at her place. They shared meals together with her family. They had date nights where it was just the two of them connecting in a way that wasn't sexual.

Sometimes when he came over, he helped her clean the apartment.

They even went grocery shopping together.

So nothing had changed on the surface in regards to their relationship.

They did the same normal everyday things they always did before Damon was married, which was why Bonnie never once considered herself to be the "other woman".

They weren't fucking in some seedy motel room and Damon wasn't leaving her money by the bed when he left.

He wasn't showering her with expensive gifts to gain or keep her affections.

Nor was he treating her like some possession that he owned and had the exclusive rights to.

In Bonnie's mind that's what married men did with their mistresses and none of those things were happening between her and Damon.

And because Damon wasn't doing any of that with her, it enabled Bonnie to justify her relationship with him in her head. Talking herself into doing something she knew was wrong.

But last night when Damon abruptly canceled their plans together with no explanation, for the first time Bonnie felt like the side-chick.

Sitting on a wooden bench in the park watching little kids play, Bonnie realized that wasn't the role she wanted to play in Damon's life.

* * *

"Bonnie, is that you?"

Two seconds later the bedroom door pushed open and she popped her head inside. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I was trying to be quiet."

"You were. I was already up. I couldn't sleep with you gone. I was worried."

Guilt seized Bonnie for putting her mother through that. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to make you worry. I just needed some time to myself to think and I couldn't do that with Damon here."

Abby sighed softly.

Bonnie swallowed hard as she stood in the doorway trying to force the words out of her mouth. "I've decided to breakup with him."

"Oh sweetie." Abby said with a sad tilt of her head.

"I think I'm making the right decision...I really do. It's for the best I know it." Bonnie teared up, her voice shaking with emotion. Clearly still struggling to convince herself this was true.

Abby got out of bed, going to Bonnie and hugging her. She could literally feel her heart breaking.

"Why does it feel like I'm dying inside at the thought of letting him go?" She cried in her mother's arms.

"Because you love him, baby. That's why."

* * *

Bonnie thought she would have a few days to get herself together before Damon showed up again.

She was wrong.

He came back the next morning, an hour after everyone left for church.

It was the worst timing.

"I swear I could wring your fucking neck right now!" He seethed as soon as she opened the door for him. "I can't believe you just left like that! Why did you do it?!"

Folding her arms in a defensive manner across her chest, Bonnie spoke as calmly as possible even though she was anything but. "Stop yelling at me or this conversation ends now. I mean it Damon."

He took a deep breath in and then released it. Forcing himself to calm down. "Explain yourself now."

Bonnie shook her head at his words, bringing her hands up to her mouth as if she was about to pray.

"Your tone is so disrespectful just as it was yesterday when you came here...that's why I left because I will not allow you to speak to me that way. You didn't do it before and you're damn sure not going to do it now, especially when I'm the one bending over backwards and turning myself inside out to the point where I don't even recognize who the fuck I am anymore. I'm changing everything about myself for you and you don't appreciate it. You're starting to take it for granted that I'm always going to be here and that's not the case at all."

Damon went to interrupt her, but Bonnie silenced his ass with a quickness."I'm not done!" She snapped.

Anger and hurt consumed Bonnie from within and everything she's been feeling for the past few months came pouring out of her.

"Have you once considered how I'm coping with everything? Have you Damon? While you're in your fancy new house in Sandy Springs fucking another woman and I can't say shit about it because she's your wife! How do you think that makes me feel?! It kills me every time I let myself think about it! Every time you touch me, I'm wondering if you touch her the same way. Gawd Damon, when you leave after we've been together, I scrub my body with hot water in the shower until my skin turns red because it sickens me to my core thinking that everything you did to me, you're doing to her!"

Damon shook his head no, taking a step towards her. "I'm not Bonnie...I swear I'm not!"

"No don't come near me!" Bonnie said backing away from him. "I tried, I really did because I love you so much, but I can't do this anymore." She said tearfully.

"Bonnie please..." Damon begged, his voice breaking.

"I'm sorry."

"No," He said, refusing to believe this was happening.

"Yes." She stated quietly, sniffing softly as she wiped her nose. "I think it's for the best."

"For whom?!" He yelled.

"For both of us!" She screamed just as loudly.

Silence.

Damon felt so helpless. His world was falling apart right before his eyes and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop its destruction. "What about the baby?"

Bonnie frowned at him, but Damon spoke before she could respond. "I know you're pregnant."

She literally gasped in shock. "What? No, I'm not! You're insane!"

It dawned on Damon that she truly had no idea that she was pregnant. "Bonnie, when's the last time you had your period?"

"That doesn't mean anything! My menstrual cycle has always been fucked up due to my ballet training...I'm irregular. It comes and then it goes for a few months. It's always been like that. I'm not pregnant!"

"How do you explain the morning sickness then?"

Was he serious? "I threw up a few times...how the hell does that equate to being morning sickness?!"

Bonnie had an answer for every one of his questions Damon realized.

But he knew in his gut that she was carrying his child.

His grandmother even told him that she dreamed about fish. That meant that someone she knew was having a baby. She smiled when she said it thinking that Caroline was expecting but that was impossible unless it was from immaculate conception.

What he needed was scientific proof otherwise Bonnie would never believe him.

"Stay here, I'll be back." He said walking passed her and out the door.

* * *

Damon came back within fifteen minutes. He bought two home pregnancy tests at the drug store.

He headed straight to the bathroom with Bonnie close on his heels. "This is so unnecessary. I'm not pregnant!"

"Then prove it." He said evenly not wanting to upset her even more by raising his voice in frustration. "Just take the damn tests." He told her, swallowing the knot in his throat.

An uneasy feeling came over Bonnie. It was almost as if there was a shift in the atmosphere. The world as she knew it, tilting on its axis.

And it scared the shit out of her.

Bonnie shook her head backing out of the doorway. "No, I'm not doing it. You're crazy. You're just grasping at straws because you don't want to let me go! You'll say and do anything to get what you want and I'm not having it!

"Then take the tests and if you're not pregnant I'm out of your life for good."

Looking up at him skeptically, Bonnie was thinking he was trying to play her.

She'd seen him do it plenty of times to other people while she worked for him.

Damon was the master when it came to mind games.

But the truth was on her side. She was positive that she wasn't pregnant.

"Fine." She said, breezing passed him and began taking the boxes out of the plastic bag and placing them on the counter. Both different brands.

They read the instructions. All Bonnie had to do was pee on the testing stick for a total of five seconds.

She unbuttoned her shorts, pulling them down along with her panties and she sat on the toilet stool.

Damon handed her the first stick and she took it, placing it beneath her body and began to pee for five seconds.

When she was done, she gave it to him and then he handed her the second one. And she did the same thing again.

Neither one of them spoke in the tiny bathroom as they waited the five minutes for the results.

It felt like an eternity.

When the five minutes were up, they both looked at the same time.

The first stick had a visible pink plus sign and the second one had the actual word _pregnant_ on it.

Bonnie started to laugh and it had an ugly edge to it that sounded almost hysterical. But then the tears came the longer she stared at those two fucking plastic sticks.

"I'm only twenty and I haven't experienced a fraction of the things people my age have...and now I'm pregnant. The hits just keep coming don't they. It's like I'm fucking cursed or something."

"You're not cursed Bonnie." Damon said, forcing her to look at him. "We're going to have a baby...and that's a blessing from God!"

"Says the habitual sinner whose cheating on his wife." She chuckled bitterly, pulling away from him. "Why is it that everybody, but me gets to have what they want in this world. I'm going nowhere fast and I'm tired of the ride. I've lived in the fucking projects my entire life. Everyone I knew as a child has moved on or are in the process of doing so, but I'm stuck here wasting away!" Damon pulled Bonnie into his arms, holding her as she cried. "I hate my life."

Wishing that he could absorb all of her pain, Damon held Bonnie tighter.

It was all he could do for now.

* * *

Damon stayed with Bonnie. He couldn't leave her alone in that state of mind.

Even when her family got back from church, he still didn't leave. He was troubled. He couldn't shake the feeling that Bonnie was going to end the pregnancy and he couldn't allow that to happen.

Abby made Sunday dinner and when everyone sat down to eat, so did Damon.

Bonnie barely touched her food and she'd been usually quiet all day.

Abby just figured it was because Damon was there and she was trying to gather the strength to end their relationship.

During the middle of dinner, Damon cleared his throat to make an announcement. "I have some good news that I want to share."

Everyone looked at him, including Bonnie. Her green eyes widening because she knew what he was about to do.

"Please don't." She whispered. Her green eyes pleading with him as he sat beside her.

Damon placed his hand on top of hers, squeezing it gently in a comforting gesture. Bonnie visibly relaxed, the tension leaving her body.

But then his gaze left hers and landed on Abby Bennett.

Bonnie's christian, raised in a baptist church mother who was pro-life because she considered all babies to be a gift from the Almighty God.

He'd heard her speak those exact words with his own ears. Making that statement more than once since he'd known her.

"Bonnie's pregnant with our first child."

The betrayal of her trust hit Bonnie like a tidal wave. She tried to snatch her hand away from Damon, but he wouldn't let her.

Unadulterated joy seized Abby and she jumped up out of her chair to hug Bonnie. "My baby girl is going to be a mother!"

Watching from beside Bonnie and still holding her hand, Damon breathed easier.

Now that Abby was aware of the pregnancy, there was no way in hell Bonnie would get an abortion.

* * *

As the days went by Bonnie began to draw more within herself and she was quiet a lot.

Whenever Damon came over, she refused to talk to him.

She stopped going on their date nights.

She wouldn't allow him to sleep in her bed and they weren't having sex anymore.

Bonnie had completely checked out where Damon was concerned.

* * *

Abby appeared in Bonnie's bedroom doorway. "Damon's taking us all out to eat for dinner."

"Good for you, but I'll pass. I'm not hungry." Bonnie said from her bed where she lay reading a book.

"Bonnie, please stop acting like this."

"Acting like what? I'm not bothering anyone. I'm minding my own business." Her green eyes suddenly leaving the pages of her book and zeroing in on her mother's face. "I wish everyone else would do the same."

Abby's back stiffened at the tiny rebuff. "He'll be here in an hour, so please be dressed. Wear something nice."

"I said that I'm not going!" Bonnie snapped harshly.

"And I say that you are." Abby said calmly, but with an edge to her voice. "Damon is the father of your unborn child and like it or not Bonnie Bennett that makes him a part of this family now."

* * *

Staying true to his word, Damon showed up within an hour driving a white range rover so that everyone could fit into the car.

"Bonnie, Damon's here...let's go!" Abby yelled from the living room when he walked inside of the apartment.

When Bonnie came out of her bedroom, she was wearing a low cut, body hugging red dress and six inch heels with a full face of makeup and bright red lips. Her dark hair flowed down her back in loose waves.

She looked like a sexy siren out to steal some unfortunate woman's man.

"Is this nice enough for you mama?" She asked as she walked passed Abby out the door, totally ignoring Damon and his tense jaw.

Bonnie got in the back of the range rover with Tristan and Felicia, leaving her mother to sit up front with the cold-hearted snake.

They ended up driving for a good little while, Damon taking them to some fancy restaurant downtown.

When he tried to pull the chair out for Bonnie, she ignored the gesture taking another seat.

Their server was a hottie. He reminded Bonnie of that actor Trevor Jackson.

And she boldly flirted with him in Damon's face.

It took everything in him to remain calm and not outwardly react to whatever game she was playing.

Taking things further in an attempt to piss him off, Bonnie ordered the most expensive meal on the menu...and didn't eat it. And then had the nerve to order dessert that she didn't touch.

By the time dinner was over, Damon's cheeks were a pinkish red. His face literally flushed with anger.

* * *

Instead of going south of Atlanta on the expressway, Damon headed north.

"I have somewhere else that I want to take y'all." He said purposefully staring into the rear view mirror at Bonnie who was again sitting in the back seat, staring out the window.

Within twenty minutes of driving, they were in the community of Brookhaven.

"Good Lord, the homes in this area are so beautiful." Abby breathed in awe as they drove passed house after house, one lovelier than the next.

Damon pulled into the driveway of this gorgeous two story craftsman style home. "Alright, everybody out." He said opening his door.

The Bennetts all filed out of the range rover, following Damon as he walked up the steps onto the spacious porch.

He placed the key into the lock, opening the door and walking inside of the empty house. Everyone followed suit.

"Damon, what's going on...why are we here?" Abby asking the question that was on everyone's mind.

Looking dead at Bonnie, he answered her. "Because this is your brand new home...bought and paid for."

Everyone gasped including Tristan, whose little mouth just dropped to the floor.

Damon pulled out the deed to the house from the inner pocket of his jacket, handing it to Abby knowing that Bonnie wouldn't take it from him.

Her eyes widened into saucers when she looked at it. "Oh my god Bonnie, the house is in your name. It has you listed as the owner."

Bonnie's shocked gaze swung to Damon's face. And the two stared at each other.

After a moment, she forced her feet to move towards him.

Damon smiled down at her when she stood before him, his blue eyes full of expectancy.

And without any warning, Bonnie slapped the fuck out of him.

The sound of her open palm making contact with his face echoed throughout the empty house.

"This house may be bought and paid for, but I'm not for sale."


	18. Chapter 18

Parked outside of the women's clinic, Bonnie sat inside of her black Jetta crying as the summer rain poured down mirroring her stormy emotions.

Her appointment for the abortion was an hour ago. But she couldn't bring herself to walk into the facility.

It was crazy because she hadn't stepped foot inside of a church since Jody's funeral. Angry with God for taking him away.

But all she could think about while she sat in that car was the innocent life growing inside of her and the blood that would be on her hands if she killed it, forever marking her soul.

She thought that she could go through with it, but she was wrong.

All last night and part of the morning, she kept telling herself that she was doing the right thing for _her_ and that was all that mattered.

She was only twenty years old and wasn't ready to be a mother. Damn what anyone else said or thought. No one could dictate her life or what she chose to do with her body.

This was her decision to make and hers alone. Or so she thought. Because right then, God stepped in.

Though Bonnie had turned her back on Him years ago, that faith that had been planted inside of her as a child was still there. Deeply rooted within her.

And in that moment she realized that only God had the right to give and/or take life. Not her.

So wiping her tears away, she started the car and left the clinic. Praying for forgiveness.

* * *

Damon was restless all night, tossing and turning in bed for hours until the sun came up.

That bad feeling he'd been carrying around in the pit of his stomach for days intensified tenfold and refused to let up.

He knew it had something to do with Bonnie because only she had the ability to inspire such turmoil inside of him.

Things were not good between them. They were in a bad place. And no matter how hard Damon tried to fix things between them, he only kept making it worse.

He thought he was doing a good thing by buying the house for her.

But Bonnie didn't see it that way. She saw it as some kinda bribe to buy her.

How the hell could he buy something that already belonged to him?

She was his and he was hers. They belonged to each other.

He loved Bonnie.

And Damon always took care of the things he loved. He'd done that since he was a boy. It was something that his father ingrained in him since he could remember.

And him buying that house for her was an extension of his love.

Why couldn't Bonnie see that?

Especially now, when she was carrying his child. She was going to make him a father.

She was the most important woman in his life. Not fucking Caroline or his mother, but her.

It didn't make any sense.

He got slapped across the face for buying the woman he loved a house! When in life had that ever happened to another man?!

Leave it to Bonnie to be a fucking trail blazer and turn his world upside down in the process, leaving him to look like an asshole wondering what he did wrong because he had absolutely no clue whatsoever.

Damon knew he had his faults. There were a number of things he needed to work on about himself. But providing for Bonnie wasn't one of them. With everything that was going on in his life, he made damn sure that she was taken care of first. She was his top priority. It may not have looked like it, but everything he was doing was for her and their life together which was why it was so frustrating when she would get angry with him for no reason and pull away when he needed her the most.

Like the other night when he had to cancel their date because Stefan got arrested for drinking and driving and he had to go down to Fulton county jailhouse to bail him out before he became fresh meat to the other inmates.

The next day when he went over to Bonnie's place to explain what happened, she had an attitude.

He saw it on her face when he walked into the apartment.

She was smiling at first while talking with Emily, but as soon as she spotted him, she stopped.

And Damon had this weird thing where he mirrored Bonnie.

It was like he fed off of her emotions, picking up his cues from her in how he acted.

When Bonnie was in a good mood, so was he.

But if she was pissed off, his temper could go from zero to ten within seconds. His fuse very short.

And when she was in a loving mood, showering him with all of her attention, Damon would become putty in her hands. Willing to give her the world if she asked him to.

So that day, when he saw that Bonnie had an attitude, he got one too. He couldn't help it. She affected him that strongly.

And then the following day came and it was confirmed that she was indeed pregnant. Their whole dynamic changed overnight.

She withdrew from him.

Refusing to speak with him whenever he came to see her. She just ignored him like he wasn't there. She was so cold towards him and it cut him to the quick how she was able to turn off her feelings for him like it was nothing.

He couldn't reach her no matter how hard he tried and nothing he did worked.

But Damon wouldn't give up on Bonnie. On them. He refused to do so because she was his family now and he wasn't going to lose her.

Even if it meant giving up the company in order to save their relationship. He would do that for her.

Getting up from bed with only one purpose in mind, Damon got dressed.

* * *

Going home was the last thing that Bonnie wanted to do.

She was a mess and if her mother saw her in that condition she would want to call Damon and Bonnie couldn't take the both of them ganging up on her right now.

Since purchasing that house for them, Damon could do no wrong in Abby's sight.

At least that was Bonnie's thinking after the night of the slap, when they got back home. She and Abby got into a huge argument after Damon left.

The older woman tried to drill it into her stubborn daughter's head that a man didn't buy a home for his side-piece.

Let alone put the property in her name.

She called Bonnie a little fool and told her to wake up before she made the biggest mistake of her life.

Had Felicia not been so jealous of Bonnie and had been a real big sister to her, she would have backed up their mother because what she was saying was true.

Men like Damon Salvatore were rare. What he did for Bonnie was unheard of where they came from. That shit only happened in the movies and between the pages of romance novels.

That motherfucker bought her sister a brand new house never before lived in by anyone. And it was in her name.

No one, not even him if he wanted to, could ever take that home away from her. It was hers for life.

Never again could she throw up in Bonnie's face that she'd been reduced to side-chick status because that was a lie.

Bonnie may not have been married to Damon, but it was painfully clear that she had his heart.

Felicia was shook.

* * *

Not realizing where she was going until she found herself on the expressway headed north, Bonnie sighed softly to herself.

It didn't make sense to turn around now. So she went with it.

By the time she got off the exit, it had stopped raining and the sun was shining.

She got to Brookhaven fairly quickly and in no time she was pulling up into the driveway of the house.

In the daylight, it was even more beautiful than she remembered.

The exterior of the home was painted a pale blue color with the outside windows and shutters trimmed in white.

The front porch was massive and for the first time Bonnie noticed there was a swing on the far right side of it and it too was painted white.

Bonnie realized if she wanted to she could go inside and have a look around because she had the keys in her purse.

Damon put them there before he left that night, saying she could do whatever the hell she wanted with the house because it was hers.

Taking in a deep breath and slowly releasing it, she got out of the car.

The grass in the front yard was so green that it didn't look real, but she knew that it was because she could see the dirt beneath it as she walked up the sidewalk to the house.

She touched the railing as she walked up the steps onto the porch. The door to the house was made of a thick wood and was painted red.

Taking the keys from her purse, she unlocked the door and pushed it open.

The smell of fresh paint and brand new hard wood floors tickled her nose.

Bonnie breathed in the newness of it all.

Everything looked so crisp and clean, from the crown moldings on the ceiling to the baseboard trims around the hardwood floors.

The downstairs had a spacious living room with a brick fireplace and it led into a formal dining room.

Bonnie literally gasped when she saw the all white kitchen. It was gorgeous. And it had an island.

All of the appliances from the refrigerator, stove and dish washer were stainless steel.

There was a door to her right and Bonnie opened it. It was a pantry.

She walked to the french doors that led out to the backyard and smiled when she saw there was a deck with a barbecue grill. And the yard was fenced in for privacy.

Deciding to go upstairs and have a look around, Bonnie realized that there was another section to the main floor on the other side of the house that she hadn't noticed until now.

There was a half-bath there and it was nice just like the rest of the downstairs.

Bonnie continued down the hallway where she found a massive master bedroom.

Her jaw literally dropped to the floor.

It had a fireplace, a huge walk in closet and a bathroom with both a tub and a stand alone shower and double sinks with the same counter-tops as were in the kitchen.

Everything in the house flowed together cohesively.

Bonnie finally went upstairs and noticed that the hardwood floors went through out the entire house except of course for in the kitchen and the bathrooms.

There were four nice size bedrooms on the second floor and a full sized bath.

Everyone would have their own bedroom with one to spare. Then she realized that the baby would need his/her own room when the time came.

Damon thought of everything. The house was perfect for her family.

Coming back downstairs, she went into the kitchen to grab her purse from off the island. It was time to go. And then she realized that there was a door she missed.

Walking across the kitchen, she frowned when she noticed it had a lock on it. What the hell?

Turning the lock, she opened the door to find a two car garage with a white range rover parked inside.

Bonnie couldn't believe what she was seeing.

Carefully she made her way down the steep steps and walked over to the car. She opened the back door on the passenger side.

Sure enough it had tan leather seats.

This was the same car Damon drove when he took them to dinner!

Bonnie shut the car door, swallowing hard. Her mother's words coming to her mind.

 _Damon may have a wife on paper, but in his heart you're the one he's married to. Open your eyes Bonnie._


	19. Chapter 19

No blaring music boomed loudly, drowning out every other sound around.

There were no alley ass neighbors sitting outside running their mouths and talking shit, starting trouble.

Neither were there police cars recklessly speeding down the streets, chasing after young black boys, literally running for their lives.

It was none of that. Nothing but peace and quiet.

If anything, the only thing that Bonnie heard as she sat on the front porch in the swing was the sound of nature itself. Birds chirping. A light breeze gently rustling the leaves on the trees.

It was the sound of glorious silence.

Brookhaven was a nice neighborhood.

And people seemed to mind their own business. No one batted an eyelash at her presence on the porch as they drove or jogged by the house, and she'd been sitting there for quite a while.

Bonnie had every intention of leaving and going home. But instead of walking to her car, she impulsively made a beeline for the swing and had a seat.

She hadn't moved since.

Never in all her life had she been so confused, not knowing what to do.

Everything was just so messed up that nothing made sense anymore. It was hard to think. Mainly because she didn't know what she wanted. She was all over the place.

Just a few short hours ago, she was about to have an abortion.

But she couldn't go through with it. Her conscious wouldn't allow such a thing even though in her heart she knew she wasn't ready to be a mother.

A part of her never really picturing herself in that role. Even after she had to give up ballet. Plainly put, she didn't want children.

Which was why she felt trapped.

Being pregnant with another life growing inside of her changed everything. What she wanted no longer mattered. It was all about what was best for the baby.

And what was best for the baby was living in the suburbs and driving a reliable car that didn't break down every few months.

Never-mind that the house and car were just generous gifts bestowed upon her only to gain her compliance with all of the fuck shit Damon was doing.

He wanted to keep her happy so she'd go along with the program. Be the good little side chick.

To hear her mother tell it, what was best for the baby was turning a blind eye to Damon being married to another woman and just be grateful that he was willing to take care of her. Because some men wouldn't have even bothered. They would have let her fend for herself and the child. Just look at Felicia. She was a prime example of that. Though Abby would never utter such a thing.

But Bonnie knew her mother too well. It was implied.

Over time Bonnie saw with her own eyes how Damon managed to win Abby over because she didn't really like him at first. Mainly because he was white.

Bonnie thought her mother started to soften towards him when he bought new furniture for the apartment.

But she was wrong in that assumption.

No, Abby changed her opinion of Damon Salvatore when he murdered Alaric Saltzman without having to kill him.

He slit his throat the legal way. Without getting any blood on his hands. Just making the bastard wish he was dead. No weapon needed.

His technique was very impressive, gaining Abby's respect.

But Bonnie didn't know about that. It was Damon's and Abby's little secret.

Of course Bonnie knew that Damon had a ruthless side to him. Having worked for him, she saw it up close and personal. He was manipulative and he could play dirty with the best of them when it was called for.

Knowing that about him didn't make Bonnie love him any less though.

And that was the problem. Maybe she loved him a little too much.

Casually looking up at the sky, Bonnie realized it was getting late upon seeing the sun slowly beginning to set.

"Shit. What time is it?" She said aloud, talking to no one but herself.

Reaching inside of her purse, she pulled out her phone pressing the power button to turn it back on.

It had been shut off since that morning when she went to the clinic for her appointment.

"What the hell?" Looking at a list of missed calls and texts from her mother and Damon.

Swiping the screen away, she punched in her pin number and called her mother first to see what was going on.

"Hey..." She began when her mother answered the phone, but was immediately cut off.

"Bonnie, where are you?! No one has been able to contact you all day!"

The urgency in Abby's voice had Bonnie on alert. Something was wrong. She stood up from the swing.

"What happened?"

"Lily Salvatore tried to kill herself...she overdosed on some pain pills!"

"What?!"

"Damon found her this morning when he went home. She was in the bathtub, unresponsive. He called an ambulance and they came and got her, taking her to a hospital. They pumped her stomach. She's now in the psych ward under evaluation."

"Oh my god!" Bonnie covered her mouth.

"Damon has been trying to get a hold of you all day. He's in really bad shape, Bonnie. Where are you?"

"I, I-I'm..." She couldn't explain herself, not knowing where to start. "I have to go, mama." Ending the call.

Bonnie didn't know what to do. Should she risk calling Damon? But what if his wife was there with him? She was probably there now, right by his side. No, she couldn't do it. Her calling would just make everything worse, and Damon didn't need any added drama right now. But she needed to somehow let him know that she was there if he needed her. So she decided to send him a text.

 **I just heard about your mom. I'm really sorry Damon. I'm here for you. Just tell me what you need.**

She got an instant reply from him.

 **I'm at her house now. Alone.**

Bonnie wasn't sure what that meant. Did he want her to come there?

Now knowing that it was safe to contact him because he was alone, Bonnie forwent the texting and called him.

"Do you want me to come over?" She asked when he answered on the first ring.

"You can do what you want Bonnie. If you want to come over then come over, if you don't then ..." He trailed off leaving the statement hanging in the air.

So it was safe to say that Damon wasn't too happy with her at the moment. But regardless, she couldn't let him be alone at a time like this.

"I want to come. I'll be there soon, okay."

Damon didn't respond. He just ended the call.

"Fuck." She swore, throwing her phone back into her purse.

* * *

"Damn it." Bonnie cursed underneath her breath once again.

But this time she cussed for a different reason.

With everything that was going on, she completely forgot that Damon's family home was inside of a gated community. There was no way she was getting in.

Security would have to call Damon first before letting her through.

She sighed as she drove up to the gatehouse. "Hi my name is Bonnie Bennett, I'm here to see Damon Salvatore."

"Can I please see some identification, ma'am?"

Bonnie's eyes widened at the odd request. She'd been there a few times, but this was a first.

But she grabbed her wallet out of her purse anyway, handing over her driver's license to the guard.

He nodded his head when everything checked out, giving it back to her.

"Here's your key card. It allows you to get in and out of the gate without having to stop by security."

She hesitated for a second not taking it. "Wait, what? You're giving me a key card...why?"

"Ma'am, all I know is that Mr. Salvatore authorized it."

"Oh...well okay. Thank you." She said surprised. Taking the card.

"Enjoy your night, Ms. Bennett." The guard said.

The gates opened and slowly she drove through with that registered surprised look still on her face.

* * *

Elijah gathered up the signed documents, placing them into a folder. "Alright Damon, that's it. I'll submit these papers to Judge Moore first thing tomorrow morning and get the ball rolling."

Elijah was Klaus's older brother and he was an attorney there in Atlanta.

Damon called in a favor, needing his help to start the process of petitioning the court to declare his mother mentally incompetent and become her legal guardian which in turn would give him legal control over his father's company.

Damon sighed tiredly, rubbing his temples. His head was killing him. It was a rough day.

Elijah felt bad for him. He gripped Damon's shoulder firmly. "Look, you're doing the right thing here. No one is going to fault you for making this decision. You're doing what's best for your family."

"Hey thanks man, I appreciate that."

"No problem. I'll be in touch soon, okay?"

"Alright."

The two shook hands and Damon walked Elijah to the door.

As Elijah was walking to his car, Bonnie was driving up the street in her black Jetta.

Damon leaned against the open doorway and waited.

He woke up that morning having made his decision. He was going to tell his mother to go to hell. That she could have it all because he was done being her bitch. He was going to tell her about Bonnie being pregnant and how he was going to get his marriage to Caroline annulled.

As he drove to her house, he was already making plans in his head about starting his own business and do what his father did. Become a self-made man.

For the first time in a long time, Damon was actually excited for what the future held in store.

But then he got to his mother's house and his world turned upside down.

He found her unconscious laying slouched over the bathtub with an empty bottle of pain pills on the floor and a half drunken bottle of vodka on the side of the tub by her head.

It felt like he was moving in slow motion as he ran to her side. He thought she was dead because she wasn't moving. And tears literally sprang from his eyes. Suddenly he was reduced to a helpless little boy just wanting his mother to wake up and be alright. Even with his thoughts of her being dead, he checked for a pulse and relief and gratitude towards God washed over him when he discovered her still breathing.

He called an ambulance.

"Are you okay?" Bonnie said, reaching out to touch his arm.

Her worried voice jerked Damon from his thoughts. She stood before him, her face so pretty as she stared up at him with her eyes full of concern.

"You sound like you actually care. I almost believe you." Looking her up and down, he turned his back on her walking inside of the house.

Right then and there, she wanted to walk away.

Just get into her fucking car and leave his ass, but her heart wouldn't let her no matter how difficult she knew he would make things for her.

Damon was upset about his mother and rightfully so. But right now, Bonnie didn't have the strength to be the rock that he broke himself against.

Silently, she walked into the house, closing the door. She followed him into the formal living room where she watched as he made himself a drink at the bar.

His eyes met hers as he brought the glass to his lips. "You look mighty pretty."

Bonnie had on a yellow summer dress with little white polka dots on it. Her shoulders were cover by a white fitted light weight cardigan that was cropped at the waist. Her hair was up in a neat loose bun.

Even with no makeup on, she was a looker.

"You had a hot date or something. That's why you couldn't bother answering my calls?"

She leaned her shoulder against the entryway, needing support. Not realizing how tired she was until she got there.

"Nope, no hot date. Besides Damon, you're more than enough man for me. Maybe you're a little too much sometimes."

His blue eyes sharped upon her. He looked like he was about to say something smart, but instead he gave a humorless chuckle.

She sighed wearily. Her feet hurt. The sandals she wore were too flat with an uncomfortable sole.

So she literally was about two seconds away from telling Damon deuces.

"Look, I didn't come here to argue with you. Don't you think we've done enough of that for the last week, so lets not go down that road okay. Not tonight."

Damon agreed, nodding his head in a clipped manner. "Okay fine, change of subject then...where have you been all day? Because you damn sure weren't home unless your mother was lying to me."

It wasn't a change of subject though. He just asked a more direct question, no longer beating around the bush but getting to the point of her whereabouts when he needed her the most.

Thinking about being at the abortion clinic caused Bonnie to guiltily lower her eyes to the floor. Totally affirming that she was indeed hiding something.

She swallowed hard. Damon literally seeing her throat gulp. "It's not important. Not anymore."

Her trying to skate over the issue like some corrupt politician with something to hide had Damon exploding in anger.

"Answer the fucking question Bonnie, it's not that difficult!" He yelled, throwing the glass of liquid forcefully across the room where it shattered against the wall.

She literally flinched at his volatile temper, never having witness him lose control like that before.

Seeing the startled, borderline scared look on her face had Damon immediately regretting his outrageous outburst. Quickly, he apologized for his aggressive behavior.

"Bonnie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm just on edge from everything that's happened today."

Not saying anything to him, she turned to leave.

Any other time, she could handle Damon but not right now. Not today. She was emotionally drained as it was and it was taking everything in her not to cry in frustration because everything was so messed up and she didn't know how to fix any of it.

Bonnie just wanted to go home and not deal with anything. Not the baby or her mother and most of all, Damon. She was done. She had nothing left to give. Yes she felt bad for what happened with his mother, but that didn't mean that she was going to stand there and take his shit.

Opening the front door, she was seconds away from being free, already feeling the fresh air from outside making it easier for her to breathe.

But no sooner was the door opened, it then closed once more.

Damon's hand hovered directly above her head, pressing against the door, preventing her from leaving.

"No don't. I don't want to hear anything you have to say! I just want to go!"

He pressed his bigger body against her back, effectively trapping Bonnie between him and the door.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. Please don't go, I need you." He pleaded, burying his face in the crook of her neck as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"No you don't. You don't need anyone. You just want someone to lash out at and hurt because you're hurting and I'm not the one...so move because I don't wanna be here anymore, Damon."

"No. That's not true. I don't want to hurt you. I've never wanted to hurt you, but you keep pushing me away and I don't understand. It's like you hate me now when all I want to do is love you Bonnie. Let me love you. It's like ever since we found out you were pregnant, you've placed up walls trying to keep me out. You're so distant and cold now. Nothing I do is right, no matter how hard I try to please you. I know you're upset about the pregnancy because you're still young and you're not ready to be a mother yet but people do it everyday Bonnie. Yeah having a kid changes things but it doesn't mean it's the end of your her life. Why can't you see that?"

Tears began to fall from her eyes. "Because Damon...I don't want it!"

She felt his body go still from behind her. And a second later, his arms dropped from around hers and he took a step back.

Bonnie sniffed softly, wiping her face as she slowly turned to face him.

"The reason why I didn't answer any of your calls today was because my phone was shut off. I shut it off this morning because I had an appointment at an abortion clinic."

Damon's face literally turned ash white, his heart dropping from his chest.

He didn't want to believe her. She had to be lying because he knew Bonnie would never do such a thing.

She practically took care of Tristan since he was born. That in itself showed what a nurturing person she was.

How could that not translate to her own unborn child growing inside of her.

No he didn't believe it.

But the look on her face was killing him because she looked so torn.

A glint appeared in Damon's eyes, making him seem dangerous.

"Bonnie, you better tell me right now that you didn't kill my fucking baby. Please tell me you didn't do it." His voice held a threatening yet pleading edge to it, like if she gave the wrong answer he would lose his mind.

So much had happened to him today that at that moment, Damon was seriously hanging on to his sanity by a thread.

She stared up at him with sad eyes. "No I didn't kill it...I couldn't go through with the abortion. No matter how much I don't want it, I just couldn't do it."

Damon nodded his head once, his jaw tensing where a tiny tick appeared just below the apple of his cheek.

Then he took a step forward, surprising Bonnie when he grabbed her face. His grip tight. Meant to hurt.

She made a startled, scared sound. Not quite a gasp. Her hands circling around his wrist trying to move it, but Damon was too strong.

"The only reason why I'm not losing my shit right now is because I love you. That's the only fucking reason. Do you understand?"

Bonnie didn't say anything. Too stunned to speak.

"I need for you to answer me baby, okay? So that I know we're on the same page. Now tell me that you understand."

Another tear slipped down Bonnie's cheek. "I understand."

"Good. Good. Now moving forward you are never again to refer to our child as an _it._ Do you understand?"

Bonnie closed her eyes, more tears falling. "Yes, I understand."

"Open your eyes baby because I need for you to look at me when I say this."

She obeyed, opening her eyes. She had no choice. Never seeing Damon like that fucked up her head.

Damon let go of Bonnie's face, his hand going to the back of her neck lightly gripping it as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"I have faith in you. I know that you don't want this now, but I think once the baby comes, you'll feel differently. Especially once you see his or her little face. You're going to fall in love. I know it. We just have to give it time. That's all. Okay?"

Bonnie swallowed hard, nodding her head in agreement for both of their sake.


	20. Chapter 20

"The truck is here...the truck is here!" Tristan screamed excitedly, literally jumping up and down on the sofa as he stared out the window, watching as the huge U-haul truck slowly backed its way in front of their apartment. .

Hearing her nephew from her bedroom, Bonnie took a moment to gather herself. Today was going to be a long day. They were moving into the house.

She stood in front of the cherry oak mirrored dresser and practiced her smile.

It was important that it look natural, spreading across her face with ease.

* * *

Meanwhile outside, Damon was behind the wheel of the U-haul with Stefan and Klaus riding shot-gun.

The three men hopped out of the truck just in time to see Tristan barrel his way out of the front door to meet them.

"Damon! Damon!" The boy yelled happily, running at full speed and launching himself at Damon, who easily caught him.

"Hey little man, you ready to put those muscles to work and help us move?" Damon asked.

The boy nodded. Then his curious little eyes landed on the other two men standing there. "Who are they?"

Pointing out the men one at a time, Damon made the necessary introductions. "Well this guy over here with the cool hair is my little brother Stefan. And this guy here who looks like he's wearing red lipstick is my buddy Klaus."

Tristan giggled.

"Gentlemen this little fellow here is Bonnie's nephew Tristan."

"Hey Tristan, it's finally good to meet you. Damon talks about you a lot." Stefan smiled at the boy in amusement.

The boy frowned. "You talk about me, Damon?" He asked, having been surrounded by gossiping women he equated people being talked about to something bad.

Damon chuckled. "Only good things my friend. Like how smart you are and how you're learning how to read. Things like that."

"Oh okay. Well I guess that's fine."

All three men laughed.

Damon placed the boy down. "Okay men, let's get to work."

When they walked inside of the apartment, Damon made introductions once gain introducing Stefan and Klaus to Abby and Felicia.

They all stood in the living room and went over the game plan as to what was to be moved first with Abby doing must of the talking.

Everything was already packed up, all of the beds were taken apart.

So literally, all they had to do was move. Abby thought it would be easier to do one room at a time.

All the while she spoke, Damon's attention kept going towards the back of the apartment where Bonnie's bedroom was located.

"I wanted to make things as easy as possible for you guys." Abby finished.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Stefan stated. "But aren't we missing someone?" Referring to Bonnie.

Before Abby could respond, Damon spoke up. "You're right. You two start loading up the truck and I'll go see about my boo thang!"

Abby, Klaus and Stefan chuckled.

Felicia rolled her eyes. Not really here for Damon's sometimes Justin Timberlake thinking he black, white ass.

"You better not let Bonnie hear you call her that!" Abby laughed as Damon made his way down the hall.

* * *

He found her sitting Indian style on the floor in the center of the room flipping through what looked to be a photo album.

She was dressed in sweats and wearing sneakers with her hair pulled back in a ponytail with a baseball cap on her head.

Her bedroom was all packed up, full of boxes and her mattress and box spring were up against the wall.

"Hey you, everyone's out there waiting for the Queen B herself. Whatcha doin in here?" He asked coming into the room.

"Nothing. I found this old photo album that I made back in high school...I guess I got side tracked." She answered.

Damon came over to her side and squatted down to have a look.

There were various pictures of Bonnie at school, dressed in a leotard and tights with her hair up in a bun.

Some of the photos where of her laughing with friends or making silly faces to the camera.

But the one that caught Damon's eye was of her wrapping her arms behind this really good looking dark skinned black guy with a nice bright white smile.

They were at some park at a picnic table. It looked like some 4th of July gathering.

"Who's that?" Damon pointed at the picture.

"Jody."

"Oh wow. That's him?"

Damon was surprised. For some reason he didn't seem like Bonnie's type at all because he looked like a straight up thug. White tee, sagging jeans and all.

"Yeah, that's him. We were at his family reunion." Bonnie stared at all of the photos in disbelief.

She couldn't get over how young she looked in them. It was crazy. Those days felt like a life time ago and yet they weren't.

"I was a baby." She uttered aloud, not really meaning to.

Damon turned the page of the photo album and was hit with pictures of Bonnie during performances.

Her ballet movements caught in mid-air as the photo was snapped by a camera.

As he looked at each one, he wished that he was there sitting in the audience watching her perform. "Do you have any video footage of your ballet performances?"

"No."

Whoever snapped the shots did a great job of capturing the moment.

"If we have a girl, I want her to have ballet lessons. I want her to be just like her mama. Maybe you could teach her." Damon said as he continued to flip through the album.

Bonnie cleared her throat, moving to stand to her feet. "Yeah maybe."

Closing the photo book, Damon got up as well. Turning slightly so that he was facing her. "You ready to move into your new home?"

That smile she'd been practicing in front of the mirror just minutes ago appeared across her face effortlessly.

"I'm ready."

The two were interrupted seconds later by a decidedly British voice. "Come now mate, we have work to do. Chop, chop."

Klaus's presence there was a surprise to Bonnie. "How did you get roped into helping us move? I thought manual labor wasn't your thing?"

Klaus swaggered his way into the bedroom, taking Bonnie's hand and kissing it.

"For you my darling, I would do anything. I would slay a fire breathing dragon. Go toe to toe with Hercules himself. All for you. You chose the wrong man my dear, but I forgive your folly. You didn't know any better."

Damon rolled his eyes, crossing his big arms over his chest.

Having known the British man for a while now, his antics still made Bonnie laugh. "Wow all that? I'm touched. But I appreciate you coming because Damon and Stefan can use the help."

"Whoa, what is that suppose to mean?" Damon asked a little affronted but not really.

"Just what I said. You could use the help. With more hands on deck the faster we're done."

"Ahh, beauty and brains. How could any man resist such a combination." Klaus went to kiss Bonnie's hand once again.

Damon slapped his hand away from her. "Try."

* * *

Bonnie was right, with more hands things did run much smoothly and they got a lot done in a short amount of time.

The men did all of the heavy lifting with Felicia helping out when an extra pair of hands was needed.

Like when they had trouble lifting the kitchen table with just the three of them.

It was heavier than it looked being made of solid wood.

The quality of the furniture Damon bought did not go unnoticed by Bonnie who realized that he could have easily went the cheap route but he didn't.

Everything he bought was tastefully understated yet expensive.

Doing her part, Bonnie carried things like the sofa cushions and pillows and the lighter weight boxes that contained things like sheets and towels or clothes. Damon being very adamant about her not lifting anything heavy because of the baby.

Not wanting to start an argument with him in front of everyone, she just did what he said. It was easier to go along to get along at that point.

Between her mother and Damon, Bonnie felt like she was losing her voice in the mix. Feeling like a puppet with strings attached, being pulled this way and that way, no longer in control of her own life.

* * *

While everyone worked, Abby did the supervising and handed out water upon requeste because though summer was technically over, it was still slightly warm outside with temperatures in the lower 80s.

Fall was around the corner. Emily had already left for college. Her last year. She and Bonnie said their goodbyes days ago.

When the last of their things were loaded onto the truck and it was time to roll out, Abby, Felicia, Tristan and Bonnie stood in the empty apartment that had been their home for so long.

"I thought I'd never see this day." Abby spoke.

She looked at Bonnie with somewhat of awe on her face. It was supposed to be Felicia who married well and got them out of the projects.

But that wasn't how things turned out.

The woman walked over to her youngest daughter, placing her arms around her in a loving hug.

"I should have known it would be you who got us out of these projects. We're set, baby girl...and it's all because of you."

Had Abby not pulled away first, Bonnie would have because her mother's words made her feel like some gold digging ho.

As if she'd planned it all.

Like she was on the come up. When that wasn't the case at all.

Bonnie swallowed hard.

"Come on little man, it's time to go home." Abby said holding her hand out to the little boy and they walked out the front door, neither looking back.

"How does it feel?" Felicia asked after a short moment.

Bonnie was pulled from her thoughts, blinking. "Excuse me?"

"I asked you, how does it feel?" Her sister repeated the question.

"How does what feel, Felicia?" Bonnie asked, rubbing her temples to starve off the coming headache.

Felicia looked Bonnie up and down before answering. "Being mama's favorite." She then left out, leaving Bonnie alone in the apartment.

* * *

The truck was all packed up.

Damon watched as Abby and Tristan came out of the apartment. Then a minute later, Felicia walked out going to get into the car.

But there was no Bonnie.

"I'll be back." He said to Stefan and Klaus before hopping out of the U-haul.

He jogged up the sidewalk to the apartment and went inside, but Bonnie was nowhere to be found. He walked towards the back to the bedrooms but stopped when he got to the bathroom because he found her.

Bonnie was on her knees, throwing up inside of the toilet.

He went to her side and began rubbing her back, trying to comfort her. "It's the middle of the day, so it can't be morning sickness. Did you eat something that upset your stomach?"

Bonnie flushed the toilet when she was done. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I don't know. Could be." She lied, not wanting to tell him the real reason why she was sick.

* * *

Having loaded up the truck room by room made it easy moving everything into the new house because they unloaded that way, doing one room at a time.

It went without saying that the master bedroom suite downstairs was Bonnie's room.

It was one of the reason's why Damon bought the house because of the privacy it gave being so far removed from the four bedrooms upstairs.

No longer would he and Bonnie have to be quiet during intimate moments.

While the guys were setting everything up, Abby got to work on the kitchen, unpacking boxes and putting everything in its place.

Feeling very excited about finally being in the house, she wanted to break in the new kitchen right away by making dinner for everyone.

Meanwhile, Bonnie was alone in her bedroom, hanging up clothes in her new walk-in closet.

For the first time that day, she was relaxed because she was away from everyone else, able to just be. Not having to pretend she was fine.

Damon and Stefan had already setup her bed and mounted the television on the wall.

There was so much that needed to be done that it was almost overwhelming to think about. Moving was no joke.

All Bonnie wanted to do was take a nice long shower and curl up underneath the covers of her bed and watch some ratchet TV.

But that would have to wait until later once Damon and them were gone. She's was kinda looking forward to it. Needing the rest after such a long tiring day.

"I think you need a king sized bed in here because the one you have is too small for this massive space." Damon said, interrupting Bonnie's quiet time away from everyone.

"My bed is fine Damon. A queen-size is more than enough for me." She responded, not breaking a beat with placing clothes on hangers and putting them up on the rod, all turned in the same direction.

"Don't you mean for us? Besides I was talking about how awkward it looks in the room. A king size bed would fill up more space and balance everything out."

"Who cares what it looks like. It's just going to be me and you in here anyway."

"Well I care...so I'm getting the bed."

Bonnie finally stopped what she was doing, giving Damon her full attention. "That's ridiculous though. The bed is still practically new. It will be a waste of money."

"No it won't because we'll give it to your mother. There problem solved. No waste whatsoever."

She just stared at Damon and then shook her head. "You know what, fuck it...it's your money. Do what you want. I don't care." She went back to hanging up her clothes.

"Hey, don't be like that. This is nothing to fight over, okay. It's a good thing." He said, moving closer to her and wrapping his arms around her tiny frame.

Bonnie immediately felt smothered by his presence. The closet no longer seemed quite as big as it was with him in there.

She tried to pull away. "Let go Damon. You stink."

He released her, lifting up his armpit to sniff underneath his shirt. "That my dear is the smell of a hard working man. You better recognize the scent."

That got him a small chuckle with a smile from her.

"See now, that's what I like. Putting a smile on my lady's face. That's all I want Bonnie...to make you happy." He said, caressing her cheek.

The way he was looking down at her was making Bonnie feel warm inside.

He then bent his head and she leaned up to meet his lips. Wanting his kiss.

When their mouths touched, Damon and Bonnie melted into each other's arms.

It was like the last couple of weeks hadn't happened and their kiss was just as passionate and fiery as it ever was.

It was a relief to them both that they hadn't lost that part of them.

Their mouths caressed each other softly at first, but as their hunger grew, it became needy with a greediness that consumed them both.

Bonnie began to undo Damon's jeans.

"What are you doing?" He asked out of breath when their lips parted.

"What does it look like Damon. Focus." She unzipped him.

"Are you serious...you want to fuck right now with everyone in the house."

She stripped down her sweat pants and panties in one fluid motion, slipping off her sneakers one foot at a time as she did so. Completely undressed now from the waist down.

Damon was too stunned to speak.

"Shut the closet door. We'll be quick." She commanded.

When he just stood there not moving a muscle, Bonnie took matters into her own hands, closing the door herself.

She then yanked down his jeans with his underwear, letting them pool around his ankles.

Damon wasn't fully erect so she decided to help him out and began to stroke his member.

She struck her tongue down his throat in such a way that Damon finally snapped out of it and gave it back to her two fold. His tongue winning and dominating hers into submission.

He backed Bonnie against the wall in between her hanging clothes. They were an unnecessary shield of protection that the two of them didn't need.

She wrapped her tiny hand around his dick and began to tug up and down. The faster she did it, the harder he became growing in her hand until he stood at attention on his own, full salute.

Damon's hand went between her legs. "You wet enough for me?"

"Yes, now stick it in me." She panted, more than ready.

Never had Bonnie uttered such words to Damon. And she could see how her words affected him. He was so turned on.

Bonnie couldn't explain what came over her. It was like something had ignited inside of her body.

Her pussy just got HOT all of a sudden and she wanted him balls deep inside of her.

It was like she was on fire and only he could put out the flames.

Damon lifted Bonnie up with her back pressed against the wall and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Gripping his manhood, he hesitated for just a second. "Say it again." He demanded, his blue eyes full of lust.

Bonnie's hand tightened around his hair as she gripped the back of his head.

"Stick it in me."

His mouth covered hers as his body pushed its way inside of her.

Bonnie gasped for air, pulling away from his mouth so she could breathe. His dick singeing her insides.

Damon groaned in pleasure, his teeth biting into her lower lip as he seated himself fully inside of her.

He then began to move.

She felt tighter to him. How was that even possible?

"Fuck!" He cursed, squeezing his eyes shut from the seer feel of her wrapped around him.

His thrusts becoming harder with each second he was inside of her heat.

Bonnie didn't understand what was happening to her.

One minute she just wanted Damon to get the fuck out of her face and leave her alone, and now she couldn't get enough of him.

What was wrong with her?

Whatever it was, she'd never felt something so intensely. "That's right like that. Just like that! Fuck me like that!" She instructed on bated breath, holding him tightly in her arms as his body moved almost forcefully inside of hers.

"Make me come Damon...I need to come right now. Please!" She cried out.

Damon didn't want either of them to come because that would mean it was over.

And he wanted to stay in that moment with her forever. With him fucking her warm, wet pussy.

The world could be burning down all around them and he wouldn't care as long as he could stay right where he was, inside of her body.

But of course it had to end sometime and when it did both of them came hard together, wrapped in each others arms with their bodies trembling against the wall.

"Shit!" Damon cussed once more, sagging against Bonnie.

His face buried in the crook of her neck. His body weakened because she literally milked him dry.

Bonnie peppered little light kisses to Damon's shoulder, rubbing his back. "You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah. I just need a minute."

He was still buried deep inside of her, but he was no longer hard.

"Bonnie!"

Hearing her name being called by Tristan, snapped both Damon and Bonnie out of their orgasmic haze.

He pulled out of her, setting her down on her feet and quickly the both of them got dressed.

Bonnie struggled a bit putting her sweat pants back on because her legs felt wobbly, while Damon easily pulled up his underwear and jeans simultaneously.

"Bonnie, your panties!" He hissed.

The two staring at them on the floor by her feet.

Well it was too late to put them on now, so she kicked them behind the box of clothes and slipped her feet into her sneakers.

"Bonnie!" They heard once again.

Damon opened the closet door and they stepped out, shutting it back closed, so the smell of sex wouldn't linger its way into the room.

Two seconds later the little boy appeared, skipping into the bedroom.

"Bonnie, grandma wants you to go to the store to get some grease for the chicken."

"Oh okay sweetie, thanks. I'll go in a minute."

"Can I come with you?" He asked.

"Sure, if you want to." She answered licking her lips. Feeling weird not wearing any underwear.

"Can we take the Range Rover?" Tristan asked, practically jumping up and down where he stood.

Bonnie was a little taken aback by the request.

"Sure buddy." Damon answered for her.

"Yay!" The boy yelled out in excitement before exiting the room.

"Wow, that was close." Damon said, running a hand through his black hair.

"Yeah, it was." She agreed.

Bonnie wanted to take a shower, but she couldn't right then.

So she did the next best thing and got a feminine wipe packet out of her purse and went into the bathroom, closing the door.

"You okay?" Damon asked when she came back out.

"Yeah, I'm good...I didn't realize that I needed that."

Damon smirked sexily, coming to stand before Bonnie. He cupped her face, bending his head to kiss her lips.

Bonnie kissed him back. No longer so annoyed by him.

Damon was still smiling as their lips parted. Very pleased with the situation. "Damn, those pregnancy hormones are no joke!"

Bonnie's brows furrowed not understanding as she looked up at him in confusion.

What did her being pregnant have to do with the two of them fucking like rabbits in her closet?

Damon continued talking, in a good mood. "Who knew that sex would be one of your cravings. Yay!" He screamed lowly, mimicking Tristan.

"What are you talking about?"

"I read it on one of those pregnancy blogs. It said that women in their first trimester can experience an increase in their libido."

Wait, what? Damon was reading pregnancy blogs?

She hadn't read so much as a pamphlet in regards to her pregnancy. And yet it was her body. Damn.

The baby was only the size of a walnut inside of her womb and already Bonnie was feeling like she was failing as a mother.


	21. Chapter 21

AUTHOR'S NOTE REMOVED


	22. Chapter 22

**AN** : This chapter is SUPER long because I need to get some things out of the way plot wise in order to move the story forward. I really took my time on this...I hope it shows, you guys.

Happy reading to those of you who are sticking with me.

* * *

It took forever to leave the house just to go to the grocery store because Damon had to teach Bonnie how to operate the Range Rover before letting her drive.

Not only was it a push to start. But it came with front and back cameras, heated seats, dual climate change and it had multiple touch-screens, a navigation system, and a digital dashboard and that was only the stuff Bonnie knew by heart.

It had more in-depth features, but by that point in her crash course tutorial, Bonnie was over it.

Simply put, the car was doing too much for her liking.

Of course, she didn't tell Damon that. She kept her feeling to herself as he sat in the passenger seat beside her and patiently went over how to work the luxury sport SUV.

By the time they were done, she could have already been to the store and back.

Was it crazy that she preferred her little black Jetta?

She loved that car. It was cute and compact, just the right size vehicle for her.

But more importantly, she paid for it with her own money. It was hers.

And it was a simple car.

All she had to do was stick the key into the ignition, put it in drive and go. Nothing difficult about that.

Driving the range rover felt like she was operating a space ship. Just too many buttons, knots, and screens for her taste.

Damon was going to ride to the store with them, but Klaus needed help programming the television in the living room. So Damon asked Stefan to go just in case Bonnie had trouble with the car.

They waited for him inside of the range rover. It didn't take long though before Stefan was walking to the car.

He whistled in appreciation when he got inside, shutting the door. "Nice wheels."

"You don't think its too much?" Bonnie asked, watching as he buckled his seat belt.

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged lightly, turning off her phone and putting it inside of her bag which sat perched on top of the middle console between them.

"I don't know. It feels kind of flashy to me. You know like, hey look at me I'm driving a Range Rover and you're not."

Stefan chuckled in amusement.

All of a sudden Bonnie felt like she was being ridiculous. Here she was complaining when there were people out there who would love to own a car like this.

She sighed softly and tried to explain herself. "I just like to keep things simple, you know. And this car is..." She paused trying to find the right word. "...not. That's all."

They were in the garage and the sun roof of the Ranger Rover was closed, but even with the horrible lighting, Stefan could see what a gorgeous girl Bonnie Bennett was. And she wasn't even wearing makeup. Just sporting sweats and a baseball cap and yet it didn't take away from her looks. Not many girls could pull that off.

No wonder his brother was crazy about her.

"You'll get use to it." He said kindly.

"Here's hoping."

Stefan smiled at her.

Slowly she backed out of the garage and did it the old fashion way by relying on the rear view and side mirrors, totally ignoring the camera.

Tristan sat quietly in the back and just enjoyed the view. That's why he loved the vehicle so much because it sat up high allowing him to see everything from his window.

It was quiet for a moment as Bonnie drove down the street, but then Stefan broke the silence with a pressing question.

"What is with you women and this purse? I swear every girl I know carries it!"

Stefan was talking about the Louis Vuitton Neverfull MM.

Slowing to a stop, Bonnie put on her right signal light waiting to turn. A smile on her face. "It's a classic bag that will never go out of style and besides it lives up to the name because it literally never gets full. Practically everything I own is in that bag. I love it."

Stefan was quiet as he pondered on what she said. "You're right about them being classics. My mom has a few Louis Vuitton bags and she's had them for years. Some since I was a kid."

Bonnie shot Stefan a quick assessing look before returning her gaze back to the road. She was surprised that he mentioned his mother.

After Lily's evaluation period was up at the hospital, Damon had her transferred to a private mental health facility where not only was she getting psychological help for trying to kill herself but treatment for her alcoholism as well.

Stefan was having a hard time with his mother's attempted suicide. That's why Damon was making sure he spent time with his younger brother, wanting to make sure he was okay.

Which was why Stefan was at the Bennett's helping them move.

"Oh wow. I couldn't imagine owning so many. Like they are really expensive. I was there when Damon purchased this bag and I swear when the sales lady rang everything up my jaw hit the floor. I was like damn!"

Stefan chuckled.

Bonnie continued talking as she drove. "My mom loves her bag too. Damon bought it for her birthday and now he can do no wrong in her eyes. He's up there with President Obama."

The way she said it had Stefan side-eyeing her, the expression on his face questioning.

"You sound like that's a bad thing."

Not meaning to be so transparent, Bonnie began to quickly back pedal.

"Oh, no no...not at all. It's just that Damon has been really good to my mother...well, he's been good to my entire family. I mean he's very generous and..." She just abruptly stopped talking mid-sentence. Feeling like she was rambling off at the mouth not making any sense. "He's a good man. I'm very lucky." She said thoughtfully. "I'm a very very lucky girl. I know that."

"No, my brother is the lucky one, Bonnie. Trust me. I see the change in him...he's happy and it's all because of you. I mean you're going to make him a dad. I know that's something he's always wanted."

Bonnie didn't want to talk about the baby, so when the store came into view, she was relieved.

"Finally, it felt like we'd never get here." She chuckled uneasily.

Finding a parking space, she carefully turned the car off as Damon instructed.

"Alright Tristan, we're here. Let's get out."

There was no reply from the back.

Bonnie turned around in her seat to find the little boy asleep. "Are you kidding me? It was like a ten minute drive and he's knocked out."

"Don't worry, I'll stay in the car with him while you go into the store."

"Thanks Stefan. I'll try and be quick." She said grabbing her bag and opening the door to get out.

Stefan watched her go, noticing how guys checked her out as she walked by but paid them no attention.

Yep, Damon was a lucky guy.

* * *

Abby fried some chicken and made homemade potato salad and some fresh green beans. Everyone tore the food up. All but Bonnie. Because out of nowhere, the smell of the chicken frying made her nauseous and she had to leave the kitchen before she threw up.

So she just took a few bites of the green beans and ate the potato salad.

"I was like that too when I was pregnant with Felicia. The smell of certain foods would just hit me and I'd get sick." Abby replied casually.

They were sitting at the dining room table eating, Stefan and Klaus had already left to return the U-haul. Abby making them both a plate to take with them.

"Maybe the doctor can prescribe you something for that when you go. When is your appointment anyway?" She asked.

Bonnie sat two chairs down from her mother, mindlessly picking at her food. "I haven't made one."

Everyone at the table but Tristan stopped eating and eyed her.

Bonnie glanced up from her plate, noticing the silence two seconds too late. Her eyes flickering to each face at the table. "What did I say?"

"Why haven't you made an appointment...what are you waiting for?" Her mother wondered in concern.

Bonnie was literally stumped as what to say, her face almost surprised by the question as if she hadn't thought about it.

She hadn't.

Not once did she glance Damon's way, though she knew he was staring at her.

"Bonnie, you need to go to the doctor so you can get checked out, make sure you're okay...especially since this is your first pregnancy." Abby explained.

Bonnie swallowed hard. "I know." Lowering her eyes, fiddling with her fingernails. "I'm going to."

All the while Damon remained quiet, sitting across from her.

He knew Bonnie was having a hard time accepting the pregnancy and that she just needed time to get used to things and then she'd come around but until then it was up to him to make sure that she took care of herself and the baby.

"The doctor who delivered both Stefan and I is still practicing medicine. He has his own office in Chamblee now. My mother says he's the best obstetrician in Atlanta. I'm going to make a few calls tomorrow and see if I can get him to take you on as a patient."

Feeling yet again like it was two against one, her mother and Damon against her, Bonnie tried not to show her anger. When she spoke her voice was controlled.

"I'm not a child, Damon. I'm more than capable of finding my own doctor."

"I know that. But this is something that I want for our child. Dr. Greene is the best."

"I heard you when you stated it the first time. However, since I'm the one carrying this child. I'll be the one deciding on a doctor. Not you."

Abby interjected, trying to help. "Bonnie be reasonable. Damon's only ….."

"Stay the hell out of this!" Bonnie snapped, losing her temper.

Abby literally gaped at her daughter's outburst. Bonnie had never spoken to her like that before, let alone cuss her.

"I'm sick of you always budding your nose in where it doesn't belong! It'd be one thing if I asked for your opinion, but I don't. But that doesn't matter to you because every time I turn around you got something to say and usually it's against me and for Damon! I'm your daughter! What's wrong with you? Your my mother for god-sake, act like it!" She yelled angrily.

The entire table went deathly quiet, staring at Bonnie like she had two heads. Everyone shocked by her behavior.

"Bonnie don't!" Tristan welled her name and began to cry at the table.

It was the only thing that got to her.

Not her mother's shocked, hurt face or Damon's concerned one, but Tristan's tearful one.

The reason why he was such a smart little boy was because Bonnie took the time to explain things to him in a way he'd understand and she did that now as she leaned over and pulled him into her lap.

She wrapped her arms around him and held him close, kissing his head. She ignored all of the adults at the table watching them and concentrated on her nephew.

"Shhh, don't cry now okay. I didn't mean to raise my voice like that and cuss in front of you. I was wrong. You shouldn't have heard that. But I'm human Tristan which means that I have feelings too. I get mad sometimes just like you. You remember when Corey told everyone on the playground that you peed in the bed and how angry that made you?"

The little boy nodded his head, wiping across his eyes. "That was because he was lying. I haven't peed the bed since I was little."

"I know that. But what he said made you mad, right?"

He nodded once again.

"And what did you do?"

"I-I told him to stop telling lies. That I didn't pee in the bed anymore."

"And when he didn't stop, what did you do next?"

"I pushed him down to the ground."

"You see what I'm saying, baby? Everyone gets angry at times. I'm not saying that it's right, but it happens to all of us when we get upset. And grandma made me upset just now and I allowed my temper to get the best of me, but that doesn't mean that I don't love her because I do. I just need for her to stop and take a step back and let me make my own decisions. Do you understand that?" She asked softly.

Tristan wiped away the remainder of his tears, sniffling softly. "I understand. Grandma thinks you're a baby but you're not. You're an adult."

Bonnie's heart just swelled with so much love for him that it almost choked her from within.

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?"

"Yes. You love me a lot."

That little boy owned her heart.

"Are you feeling better...are we good?" She asked him.

He nodded quickly, his eyes dry as he looked at her. "Yes, we're good."

"Well go upstairs and play in your room. One of us will be up in a little while to give you a bath, okay."

"Okay." He slid off Bonnie's lap and went upstairs.

Bonnie sighed softly, collecting herself. "Look, I'm sorry mama. I shouldn't have come at you like that. It was wrong. But I need for you to stop meddling in my relationship with Damon. It's not your place."

With her feelings hurt, Abby stood up from the table. "Well excuse me for caring about you." Taking her plate, she walked into the kitchen.

Bonnie was supposed to be her good child and to see her lash out like that with such anger against her, really hurt Abby's heart.

For the first time, Felicia spoke up. Needing to add her two cents. "It looks like those pregnancy hormones are starting to kick in. You're acting like a real bitch now, upsetting both Tristan and mama."

"Then it's your turn. Let me upset you." Bonnie leaned into the table, staring down her sister. "You have two weeks to get a job or you can get the fuck out of my house. I mean it Felicia. You work or you go...you decide."

Bonnie then got up from the table and left her sister and Damon sitting there.

She felt like she was suffocating from the inside out. She needed some air so that she could breathe properly.

Opting to go outside, she walked to the front door and left out the house.

It wasn't that late, maybe a little after eight o'clock at night but it was dark outside. The days were getting shorter and shorter as Fall approached.

Deeply, she inhaled the night air and released it slowly, her body visibly relaxing as she stood on the porch by herself.

Even now the neighborhood was quiet. Lights could be seen on the inside of the homes that aligned the street, but shutters and blinds were closed to protect privacy.

Bonnie hadn't been outside a full minute when she heard the door open and then close.

She knew it was Damon without having to turn around.

"Please don't get on me right now because I don't want to hear it."

"Damn, you're just going _in_ on everyone tonight!" He said as he came up from behind, wrapping his arms around Bonnie's shoulders and pressing her against him.

Her hands came up to rest along his forearms. "I've been holding a lot inside and it just came out tonight for some reason."

Damon kissed the side of her head. "You're tired and it's making you cranky. So you lost your temper. It happens."

"But that's not my style Damon and you know it. I've never spoken to my mother like that a day in my life."

"Stop beating yourself up Bonnie. You're pregnant and your hormones are all over the place as your body tries to adjust to everything. Of course you're not going to be yourself for a while. Give yourself break, okay."

Sighing heavily into the night, Bonnie closed her eyes.

"Let me take care of you, ease some of that stress." He whispered into her ear.

A slow smile crept across her face. "And how do you plan to do that?"

She could feel his lips smirk against her skin. "How do you think? The old-fashion way...FUCK it out of you."

Bonnie laughed, squeezing his arms when he grind against her ass.

"And we can be as loud and as nasty as we want. I'll fuck you until the sun comes up or you pass out from the pleasure of it all, which ever comes first."

Enjoying the moment in his arms. It just being the two of them. Bonnie didn't realize the meaning of his words until it hit her.

"Wait, you're staying the night?"

"What do you think? Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

"You know why Damon." She answered quietly, her contentment lowering a few notches.

Damon squeezed Bonnie tighter against him, feeling her sadness.

He had yet to disclose to her his most recent moves of filing for an annulment and trying to gain power of attorney over his mother because nothing was official yet.

He'd broken one to many promises to Bonnie, so he was keeping quiet not wanting to get her hopes up just in case Judge Moore didn't decide in his favor because everything hinged upon him getting power of attorney.

So standing there with his arms wrapped around the woman he loved, Damon lied to her.

"She's out of town for a few days, so I'm free to spend some much needed time with you. Aren't you lucky?"

In reality Caroline was probably at her mother's home, licking her wounds there because she didn't like to be alone.

The two of them got into this huge argument over the phone because Damon wasn't coming home anymore, staying at his mother's house.

As Damon was thinking of that, Bonnie was thinking about earlier when the two of them fucked inside of her closet. She still had yet to shower, which meant her pussy was probably very fragrant at the moment.

The thought reminded her of the peculiar thing that happened between her and Klaus just hours ago. And then her brain connected the dots as it dawned on her.

"Oh my god, I think Klaus smelled my pussy." She covered her face with her hand in embarrassment.

The more she thought about it, she realized that was what happened and why he was acting so weird.

From behind her Bonnie felt Damon's body go stiff. "Excuse me?"

"Remember when I came back from the store and you and Klaus were in the living room trying to program the television."

"Yeah."

"I was heading to the bedroom to put my purse up, but then you stopped me to ask how things went with the car, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"Well when I stopped to talk to you, Klaus was laying on the floor on his side, reading the instructions while you were busy messing with the remote control... my crotch was literally inches from his face. He had to have smelled me."

"What did he do?"

"He didn't do anything. It was more like the way he looked that got me."

"How did he look?"

Bonnie was quiet for a moment trying to think how best to describe his reaction to smelling her.

"He sat up, which caused me to look down at him and his face was almost alert like when an animal senses another animal close by. Do you know what I mean? It was so odd. You know Klaus, he's always got that mischievous look on his face like he's up to something. And I swear his eyes even darkened as he stared up at me. And then he licked his lips like his mouth was watering and he was ready to eat."

"I'm sure he was." Damon commented dryly, he leaned his head against hers. Not liking that Klaus now knew what Bonnie smelled like intimately.

"All I know is that he better not look at you the wrong way from now on because ..."

Bonnie didn't allow Damon to finish that statement, pulling out of his arms. She turned around to face him.

"Stop...you know that Klaus would never cross the line with me like that. He is your friend, Damon. Now as far as his behavior goes, he was just being a man. That's all. He smelled a fucked pussy and had a natural male reaction to it. Now let it go because I have. It was nothing."

Even with her rational words floating in the air between them, that didn't stop Damon from impulsively grabbing Bonnie and kissing her possessively, his tongue filling her mouth with a dominance that consumed her.

His male pride and ego getting the best of him to the point where all he wanted to do was claim her.

When their lips finally parted, Damon breathed heavily into her mouth. His blue eyes searing as he stared into hers.

"I meant what I said...he better not look at you wrong."

* * *

While Bonnie was upstairs reading Tristan his nightly bedtime story, Damon was downstairs turning out the lights and locking up the house. Setting the alarm.

By the time she came into the bedroom he was already showered and lying in bed waiting for her.

Bonnie shut the door and walked over to the closet where she still had clothes to unpack and hang up.

She slipped out of her sneakers and walked into the bathroom, beginning to undress so she could take a shower.

Damon watched her from the bed, enjoying the show.

"I know it's still early in your first trimester, but I swear your titties seem fuller to me." He replied, admiring her beautiful body.

She threw her clothes into the hamper and turned towards the bathroom mirror and examined her breasts.

Bonnie didn't see a difference. They looked the same to her.

"And your pussy feels tighter too."

That had her rolling her eyes.

Damon was just in the mood to fuck, so everything that came out of his mouth was to be taken with a grain of salt at that point. Bonnie knew her man very well.

She was about to close the bathroom door when his next words stopped her. "Did it turn you on?"

"Did what turn me own?" She sighed tiredly just wanting to have her shower so she could go to sleep.

"Knowing that Klaus wanted to fuck you."

Bonnie didn't even need to think about it before answering. "No it didn't...not even a little bit."

Letting go of the bathroom door, she walked over to Damon's side of the bed. Loving the way his blue eyes filled with lust while watching her.

She climbed on top of him, straddling his waist. Her pussy warm against his lower abs.

"I ought to slap your face for asking me that. You know that's not who I am."

He was quiet for a moment. The two of them staring at each other.

"You're right. I'm sorry." He said apologetically.

"You should be."

Damon began to run his hands over her naked breasts."

Bonnie closed her eyes at the feel of his large hands touching her body. Damon was right, her breasts were a tad fuller as they filled the palm of his hands.

She began to slowly grind against him. Not able to help her body's reaction to his touch.

Watching her move so seductively on top of him was turning Damon on, his dick creating a tent underneath the sheet that covered him.

Bonnie had the overwhelming need to feel Damon's tongue on her pussy.

Sucking her. Licking her. Teasing her clit. It was all she wanted.

So removing his hands from her breasts, she carefully crawled over him and lowered herself onto his face. Gripping the headboard.

Bonnie didn't even have to say a word, Damon just ate his desert like a good boy.

* * *

A few days later being swamped with work at the company, Damon asked Bonnie to go over to his mother's house and help Stefan pack some clothes for her to take to the mental facility because it was decided that she would undergo an intensive 90 day treatment program there.

Damon gave her his keys to the house just in case Stefan wasn't home when she got there.

Bonnie hoped that he was because she didn't want to be in that big house all by herself. Let alone going through Lily's things. She knew the woman would hate that if she ever found out.

Bonnie got out of the white Range Rover, placing her Louis Vuitton purse over her shoulder and closing the car door.

She pressed the lock button on the key fob.

It was hot outside.

She was wearing black shorts that hit her mid-thigh, a white v-neck tee shirt and black leather thong slides on her feet. Her hair was in a messy textured bun.

Walking up to the door, she rang the doorbell first.

She waited patiently hoping Stefan was there.

Nervously, she slid her sunglasses from off her face to the top of her head.

A minute later the door opened and she felt a sigh of relief. "Hey Stefan."

"Hey Bonnie, come on in."

She walked through the door and he closed it shut.

"Sorry about this, I wasn't sure what all to pack for her."

"No, no. Don't apologized, it's fine. I'm happy to help out anyway I can."

"Thanks Bonnie, I appreciate that." He said as the two walked upstairs.

Stefan opened up a door to what Bonnie assumed was Lily's bedroom. It was her closet.

It looked like the inside of a high end boutique.

"Oh my god." She breathed in awe because it was literally every woman's dream closet.

It was jaw dropping.

Stefan chuckled. "It never fails..it's how everyone reacts when they first walk in here. It used to be an extra guest bedroom, but my dad had it remodeled into my mother's own personalized closet five years ago.

Bonnie walked around with her mouth literally gaped open.

After a few moments of letting her take everything in, Stefan cleared his throat.

Slightly embarrassed by her reaction, Bonnie quickly got focus as to why she was there. "Sorry...where do you want to start?"

Stefan leaned against the wall. "You tell me."

She looked around thinking. Everything she saw was too dressy. Lily would need some comfortable, everyday clothes.

"Okay, where are your mother's casual clothes...jeans, tee shirts, leggings?"

Stefan looked at Bonnie like she was crazy and then straight up laughed in her face.

"Clearly you do not know my mother. She doesn't own any such items."

"Then it looks like we're going shopping." She said seriously.

* * *

Stefan and Bonnie returned to the house some two hours later with clothes for Lily to wear while at the facility.

They then got busy snipping the tags off of them with scissors and then folded them neatly into a large duffle bag.

They did this while sitting on the floor of the closet.

Bonnie had her shoes off and Stefan couldn't get over how small her pretty feet were.

Another thing that stuck him was the way she was sitting. She wasn't all slouched over.

Her spine was as straight as a board. Elegantly so. It was her ballet training, Stefan realized.

Bonnie suddenly yawned out of nowhere. "Sorry, I get tired easily these days."

"No, don't apologize. You're fine."

"It's just so annoying, you know. I can't do anything anymore without needing a nap afterward. I get out of breath if I go up and down the stairs more than once. I can't eat fried foods because the smell alone makes me sick to my stomach. It sucks."

Stefan gave her a sympathetic look.

She continued her little mini ranting session. "And Damon treats me like I'm made of glass. He freaks out if I lift the slightest thing. He monitors my every move. I swear I can't take a shit anymore without him wanting to see it."

Bonnie realized what she said and the two of them burst into laughter.

"Come on, it's not that bad is it?" Stefan chuckled.

Bonnie sighed softly. "No, but honestly it's really starting to get to me. Like I know he's just concerned for the baby, but his hovering is a little much."

"Then tell him that, Bonnie."

"Yeah." Saying it like she knew it wasn't that simple.

Stefan's phone rang and he got distracted with the call, so Bonnie took a break as well and went into Damon's bedroom to see if she could find a hoodie or something to wear because she was cold in the air-conditioned home.

Like the rest of the house, Damon's bedroom was beautifully decorated.

Going into the closet, she grabbed one of his UGA sweatshirts and slipped it on.

It came to her knees, but Bonnie didn't care because she instantly felt warmer. She then walked over to his dresser and got a pair of socks, slipping them onto her cold feet.

Wanting to give Stefan some privacy, Bonnie just decided to wait there a few minutes.

She ended up falling asleep on top of Damon's bed.

He came home a few hours later to find her there, rolled up inside of his comforter like a human burrito.

Not wanting to wake her up, he was extra quiet changing his clothes.

Shutting his bedroom door when he was done, he went down stairs.

* * *

Stefan filled Damon in on their day and what all they got done while Damon looked over take out menus trying to find something that Bonnie could eat that wouldn't make her sick.

Deciding to keep it simple and healthy Damon ended up ordering Panera Bread for them all.

Just plain old soup and sandwiches.

* * *

Bonnie woke up and came downstairs just as Damon was paying the delivery guy at the door.

She waited by the stairs until he was done.

"Damon, why didn't you wake me? It's late."

He smiled at her wearing his clothes. Leaning down, he kissed her mouth. "No it's not. It's only six thirty. Come on, I got us dinner."

"Stefan, food's here!" He yelled up the stairs.

Bonnie then followed him into the kitchen.

"What do you want to drink?" He asked her.

"Water's fine."

When he went to the refrigerator, she began to take the food out of the bags. Inspecting what he got.

"Which soup is mine?"

"Whichever one that doesn't make you want to barf."

She glanced up at him, but his back was turned. The corner of her mouth tilted up, creating a crooked smile.

Carefully she opened each container of soup one at a time and took tentative sniffs. There was no ill reaction. She went with the cheddar and broccoli.

"What about the sandwiches?"

"Well Stefan and I both love the steak and white cheddar panini, so I ordered you the same. Try it."

Bonnie grabbed a sandwich and went to sit down at the table just as Stefan walked into the kitchen.

"There's Ms. Sleepy Head, you know you bailed on me. Leaving me to finish things up."

"Sorry."

"Bonnie don't apologize to him." Damon said as he came over to the table with his food to sit down. He handed her a bottle of water. "I'm sure you did most of the work anyway."

"Oh shut up Mr. Know It All." Stefan snickered, knowing he was busted. He then took a seat as well.

They all dug in and began to eat.

"How things going so far?" Damon asked a few minutes in, meaning the food.

"So far, so good." She answered, covering her mouth as she chewed.

"I ordered the king size bed for your bedroom. It'll be delivered tomorrow afternoon and they'll set it up for you. I also paid extra to have them take down your bed and move it upstairs to your mom's room. And they'll take her bed with them to discard. So you need to make sure they do that before they leave, okay?"

Bonnie didn't answer him.

Damon stopped eating, his eyes going to her. She looked like she wasn't listening to a word he said. He called Bonnie's name to get her attention.

"I heard you, so relax." Not looking at him when she spoke, but just kept eating.

Feeling the sudden tension in the kitchen, Stefan was grateful when the doorbell rang. "I got that." Jumping up out of his chair to answer the door.

"Bonnie, I told you that I was going to get the bed, so why the attitude?"

"What attitude? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bullshit, so stop being passive aggressive because it doesn't suit you."

Green eyes glared at him. But before she could respond, they both heard a woman's voice yelling in the hallway.

"Get out of my way, move!"

Damon froze at the sound of Caroline's voice.

His eyes cut to Bonnie. She had a perplexed look on her face wondering what was going on.

"No I won't calm down...he hasn't been home in days...days Stefan and I want some answers now!"

A few short seconds later the two of them entered the kitchen.

Caroline came to an abrupt halt when her dark blue eyes landed on her husband sitting at the table having dinner with his ex-girlfriend, who she instantly noted was wearing his UGA sweatshirt and nothing else but socks.

Bonnie sat with her shapely legs propped up in the chair. So from Caroline's viewpoint, it looked like she wasn't wearing anything underneath.

And Bonnie's messy bun didn't help matters, making it look like she just rolled out of bed.

Which technically, she had.

Though Caroline knew of Bonnie, having seen pictures of her in Damon's phone, the same couldn't be said otherwise.

Bonnie had no clue whatsoever that she was staring at Damon's wife.

The blonde addressed her husband. "What is she doing here, Damon?" Caroline asked, swallowing hard. "Is this why you haven't been home... because of her?"

Bonnie could do nothing but stare when she realized who Caroline was. In a matter of seconds, she literally took in every last detail of Damon's wife, sizing her up.

Long blonde layered hair, but her roots were dark. Not a natural blonde.

Her arms and the exposed skin of her chest just above the neckline of her dress were full of freckles, but her face was flawless. She was wearing makeup. It was subtle though, made to look like she wasn't wearing anything at all.

The summer dress she wore was simple, but the quality of its design read expensive to a well trained eye.

The same could be said for her shoes, simple yet expensive Italian leather sandals.

She was pretty, but in a white girl way. Strip off that makeup and she was plain as hell.

"Bonnie, will you excuse us please?" Damon asked, because he didn't want her to witness the confrontation with Caroline.

He covered his hand over hers, squeezing it gently.

Caroline saw this and it was like a dagger to the heart. She started walking towards them.

Seeing her move out the peripheral of her eye, Bonnie yanked her hand from underneath Damon's. Standing up so fast the chair she was sitting in toppled over onto the floor.

Having grown up in the hood, Bonnie automatically took Caroline's action as a threat.

In her mind, it was about to go down. And the number one rule of a fight was NEVER remain seated while the person walked up on you.

Caroline had absolutely no clue she was about to get her ass whooped.

Bonnie pulled up her sleeves.

Having zero street sense, Caroline still kept coming towards her like a fool. Just asking for it.

But Damon knew what was up, reading Bonnie's body language, but he did the absolutely wrong thing, not knowing any better.

He grabbed the back of Bonnie's shirt trying to hold her, not realizing that he was making her vulnerable to Caroline.

Though that wasn't his intention, it was how Bonnie saw it.

"What the fuck are you doing...let me go! You want her to get the jump on me, is that it, you trifling motherfucker?!"

Bonnie had a way of testing Damon's temper to no end. And she did it just then with those words.

The fact that she could think he would ever allow someone to hurt her licked the flames of his temper.

Damon's jaw locked from the tension of gritting his teeth together.

He ignored Bonnie's outburst, not responding and just used his arm to pull her behind his chair. And then he stood up, using his body to block her from Caroline.

He was so fucking angry, more so with Bonnie right now then his so called wife.

But he took his anger and frustration out on her for bringing this mess to his door step in the first place. He wanted her gone.

"Caroline, get the fuck out of here now!" He yelled at her.

"No! Why do I have to go...you tell her to go! She's the one who doesn't belong here!"

It was taking everything in Damon not to grab Caroline and shake some sense into her.

But he knew that having Bonnie there would not allow her to see reason.

Damon ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "Stefan, can you please help me out here?"

Having been quiet all of this time because he was too busy watching the drama unfold in the kitchen, Stefan snapped into action.

"What do you need brother?"

"Can you please take Bonnie upstairs and stay with her until I come up?" He asked, not trusting Bonnie to stay put if he let her out of his sight.

Bonnie immediately objected to it. "Nah, fuck that...I'm taking my black ass home!" She said from behind him.

Damon turned and bent down so that he was literally in her face. "You're not going anywhere...now take your ass upstairs!"

"Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?! You may run that stupid bitch..." She yelled pointing to Caroline. "...but you don't run me!"

Something in Damon snapped at that moment. He was done trying to be the rational one.

He didn't say another word to Bonnie because sometimes when it came to her, action spoke louder than words.

So Damon just picked her up where she stood with his arm wrapped around her thighs and carried her out of the kitchen.

Stefan followed behind them, leaving Caroline in the kitchen by herself, looking stupid.

All the while Damon carried Bonnie upstairs to his bedroom, she called him every filthy name in the book. "Let go of me, you fucking bastard!"

He kicked the door open to his room. "Calm your ass down!" Slapping her booty hard enough for it to sting.

"How dare you strike me?!" She fumed.

Damon placed Bonnie on the bed standing up.

As soon as he released her, she slapped his face.

Damon was so mad that he didn't even feel it. "I was trying to protect you, you little idiot!"

"How, by holding me still so that your bitch could jump me?!"

"I wasn't going to let her touch you!"

"You could have fooled me! You left me open and vulnerable by holding on to me. She could have really fucked me up and it would have been your doing!"

"Caroline wasn't going to fight you Bonnie...she doesn't even know how to fight! She's a rich white girl from Milton!"

"I don't give a fuck where she's from, don't you EVER hold me still when somebody's coming for me!"

"Do you hear yourself, Bonnie? You sound like a fucking mad woman! You're pregnant for god-sake, you have no business trying to fight anyone right now!

That stopped her cold.

Not once did she think about the baby she was carrying inside of her. Not once.

Standing in the doorway of the bedroom, Stefan saw the fight leave Bonnie's body. Then her eyes welled up with tears. "Oh my god."

Though everything he said to her was true that didn't mean that Damon wanted to see her broken like that. He gently grabbed her face. "It's okay, don't cry."

"I-I'm sorry...I wasn't thinking."

Damon kissed her wet face. "Shhh, it's okay. Everything's okay. You hear me?"

Bonnie nodded her head.

"Now listen to me, I need for you to stay up here okay?"

"Okay." She sniffed softly, wiping her nose.

Damon kissed her mouth before letting go of her.

"Stay with her." He said to Stefan as he walked past him.

As Damon was coming down the stairs, Caroline was bravely marching up them ready for round two.

He grabbed her arm non to gently and walked her ass back down to the first floor.

"How could you do this to me Damon, have her here in your mother's house like this? How could you?" She cried.

Damon was seriously perplexed by her. "What the fuck is wrong with you Caroline?! Why are you acting like this is a real marriage when you know it's not?!"

"Because I love you Damon! I have always loved you!" She cried, holding his face.

He was stunned into silence, having no idea of her feelings for him.

Knowing this dialed back some of his anger at her for bringing this trouble to his door.

He sighed softly, trying to calm down. Gently removing her hands from his face.

"Look Caroline, I don't want to hurt you. But you knew I didn't want to marry you and yet you willingly went along with everything."

She began to cry in earnest then. But her tears didn't affect Damon.

"I think you should know that I've filed for an annulment."

She gasped. Hearing that upsetting her more than seeing Bonnie there.

"You never even gave us a chance Damon!" She accused tearfully.

Damon was having none of her shit.

"Caroline stop it! You knew I didn't love you, but you didn't fucking care! You only thought about yourself and what you wanted!"

She shook her head. "No, that's not true! I just thought with time I could make you love me!"

"Then that was your mistake."

"Why are you being so heartless to me?!"

"I'm not being heartless, Caroline...I'm being honest." He said calmly.

She sniffed softly, wiping her nose.

"Look it's time for you to go. I've said all that I'm going to say to you. From now on, you'll be dealing with my lawyer."

"So that's it...you're just going to end things like that?"

"Yep, just like that. Goodbye Caroline." Damon walked to the door, opening it up for her.

Trying to savage as much dignity as she could muster, Caroline Forbes Salvatore, straightened her back and with her head held high walked right past him and out the door.

Damon closed it shut, turning the lock.

It was over.


	23. Chapter 23

"Dr. Jackie, I think something's wrong with me...I don't feel a connection to the baby. At times I don't even feel like I'm pregnant. I'm really worried. That can't be normal, right?" Bonnie asked in an uneasy quiet tone.

Damon had just stepped out of the office to answer a business call. He took the afternoon off to be there for Bonnie's first doctor's appointment, but he had Liz filter through the calls that couldn't wait until tomorrow.

Bonnie took advantage of the opportunity to speak to the doctor privately while he was busy out in the hallway.

Dr. Jackie was a petite black woman in her late forties. She had wide-set facial features and shoulder length dark hair. She had a soothing way about her that Bonnie responded to immediately which was why she felt comfortable enough to confide in the woman.

Now fully clothed, having finished the exam, Bonnie and Dr. Jackie sat alone in the office waiting for Damon to return so they could finish up the appointment.

Dr. Jackie smiled warmly at the young woman sitting across from her desk.

"There's nothing wrong with you Bonnie. What you're experiencing is completely normal. Most women just don't talk about it. For some it takes feeling the actual physical aspects of being pregnant before they can become invested emotionally, if that makes sense. It usually happens after they've heard the baby's heartbeat or feel it kick for the first time. So don't worry."

Bonnie tried to return the doctor's smile, but she couldn't quite pull it off. Damon basically said the same thing to her and still she didn't feel reassured by the words.

The door suddenly opened and Bonnie lowered her eyes to her lap as Damon walked back into the office. Dr. Jackie noticed her action.

It was safe to assume that Bonnie had not discuss the issue with her baby's father.

"Sorry about that." Damon apologized, closing the door. He settled back down in the seat right next to Bonnie's, his hand resting comfortingly on her thigh.

Dr. Jackie cleared her throat and continued with the appointment. "So as I stated before, things look good. The only thing I'm mildly concerned about is that you're slightly underweight. You need to gain at least three pounds by your next appointment, but I'd prefer five. Five pounds is the goal, okay?"

That was easier said than done because Bonnie was already having difficulty eating because the smell of food made her physically ill.

"I'll try." She sighed softly. The mere thought of having to eat in order to put on weight feeling like a daunting task to her at that point.

Dr. Jackie took off her glasses, her expression now serious.

"No Bonnie, you don't understand. I'm going to need for you to do more than just try. Gain the five pounds. Because being underweight puts you at a greater risk of having a preterm birth, which in turn puts the baby at risk for a host of problems. And we don't want that."

Bonnie solemnly nodded her head in understanding. "Okay, I'll gain the weight."

Damon slipped his hand over hers, feeling her unease. He gave it a tiny squeeze to let her know she wasn't alone. "Hey, we got this. Five pounds is nothing."

She looked at him in that _boy stop_ type of way. "Says the man who doesn't have to do it." Bonnie rolled her eyes clearly annoyed because he was being so flippant about the situation knowing how she was already struggling lately with eating.

The look Damon gave Bonnie was piercing. Like he was trying to read her mind to see where her head was at.

Not allowing Dr. Jackie's presence in the room to stop him from speaking his thoughts, he told Bonnie what was on his mind.

"Hey, you and I are in this thing together so as far as I'm concerned... _we_ are pregnant." He took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips to kiss."

Bonnie bit down on her bottom lip to stop herself from smiling like an idiot. Not realizing she was giving Damon googly puppy dog eyes as she stared up at him.

Dr. Jackie got the feels as well, looking at Damon just as moonstruck before getting a hold of herself and remembering she had a husband.

She cleared her throat once again, bringing the young attractive couple's attention back to her. "I'm going to give you some literature on ways to gain weight healthy and I'll see you back here in a couple of weeks for your first ultrasound."

"Okay then. Thank you, Dr. Jackie." Bonnie said, grabbing her purse and standing up.

Damon did the same, standing to his feet. "Yes thank you." He shook her hand. "I think you're going to be a good fit for us."

That made the doctor laugh. "I'm glad to hear it. You two take care now."

Damon and Bonnie left the office.

As the two walked to the Range Rover, they were silent.

Damon opened the passenger side door for Bonnie and helped her get inside as if she was already swollen heavily with his child. He was practicing for when the time came.

When she was settled comfortably in the leather seat, he grabbed the seat belt and proceeded to buckle her in.

"Really?" Bonnie chucked amused, finding him to be very adorable in that moment.

Damon smiled slyly. When he was done, his eyes met hers. "You take care of the baby...and I take care of you."

Bonnie reached out to touch his gorgeous face. His blue eyes making her feel like she was the center of his university as he stared at her. In return, her heart filled with love for him and it showed in her eyes.

"I love you too." Damon said softly, leaning in to kiss her lips.

* * *

Before going home, Damon stopped by the grocery store and bought food specifically for Bonnie for the next week.

The two went over the dietary pamphlet Dr. Jackie gave them and they discussed their game plan while driving in the car.

Bonnie was to have three meals a day including snacks. She was to drink whole milk, _organic_ and incorporate granola into her diet which she hated. But Bonnie knew she had to eat it for the baby.

When they finally got to the house, Damon made Bonnie rest on the sofa in the living room while he brought in the groceries from the car and put them away.

When he was done with that, he prepared a plate of cheese, wheat crackers and grapes and brought it to her.

"But Damon, I'm not even hungry yet!" She protested,while lying with her back against the arm of the sofa with a soft blanket over her.

He placed the food on her lap. "Just nibble on it while you watch TV."

Bonnie stared down at the plate of food not knowing how she was going to make it through the next two weeks of this. "Damon, you don't get it. I can't just eat for the sake of eating. I need to have an appetite."

Abby walked into the room at that moment, sitting down in the recliner. Her favorite chair in the whole house. "How did things go with your appointment?"

Damon sighed at her interruption, rubbing the back of his neck. Not showing his annoyance by her presence he proceeded to fill her in on what was happening.

"It went fine. The baby's good. Bonnie just needs to gain a few pounds because she's underweight."

Abby waved her hand dismissively. "Oh is that all? Gaining weight is the easiest thing in the world to do. I'll make some homemade cornbread for dinner tonight and you can have a glass of buttermilk to go with it. Eating that a few times a week alone will make you gain weight in no time."

Ever since the day they moved into the house and Bonnie was made aware of her mother's feelings for her. _That she basically thought she was a whore._ Bonnie felt some type of way about her only parent.

Now everything that came out of Abby's mouth, the twenty year old took it the wrong way.

So not only did she have to contend with Damon trying to force feed her, now she had to deal with her mother as well. Perfect!

Just thinking about the horrible smell of buttermilk made Bonnie's stomach feel queasy. The expression on her face literally soured in response and Damon knew right then there was no way she would be eating anything now.

Grabbing the plate, she yanked the blanket off of her and stood up, pushing the food at Damon giving him no choice but to take it. "What I need now is to lay down, excuse me."

The two people watched her leave each thinking different things in their mind.

Abby saw the look Bonnie gave her while she was speaking and though she tried to ignore it, it still hurt her feelings. Her youngest daughter had an attitude towards her lately and Abby didn't understand why.

Damon on the other hand looked down at the plate of food, his blue eyes becoming determined as his mind began to plan his next move.

So Bonnie said that she wasn't hungry, huh? Well the two of them were about to work up an appetite.

* * *

By the time he came into their bedroom and locked the door, Bonnie was laying on her side with her back turned to the door.

Though technically Damon wasn't living there he considered this their room. He had a few clothes hanging in the closet and some folded in the dresser drawers next to hers. He had his favorite shower gel in the bathroom along with some shampoo and conditioner, and his razor and shaving foam for the mornings when he spent the night which was often these days now that Stefan was in a better head space.

He put the plate of food down on top of the dresser and began to undress.

Hearing the plate tap lightly against the top of the dresser, Bonnie refrained from gritting her teeth. "Why are you in here?"

"Because I want to lay down with my baby."

That did it.

Bonnie turned around and sat up in one fluid elegant motion and went off. "Gawd I swear, all you fucking care about is this baby!"

Damon froze at the heat of her words, knowing that it came from deep inside of her. That it was what she truly believed. And had been thinking in her head.

"I was referring to you, Bonnie."

She swallowed hard and after a moment couldn't take the way he was looking at her, so she glanced away, avoiding his gaze because it felt too intrusive. She didn't want him to see her. Not when she felt so messed up on the inside.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I think the baby is making me a little crazy." She joked lightly, but lowkey kind of believed what she was saying. But then she became serious, needing to confide in him so she didn't feel quite so alone as she did now.

"Damon, I think something's wrong with me..."

She was about to say that she didn't feel right, but he interrupted before she could get the words out.

"There's nothing wrong with you!" He uttered vehemently, not wanting her thinking that of herself. He came over to the bed and got beside her, kissing her mouth. "You're perfect." He said softly against her lips.

She shook her head, trying to make him understand. "No Damon, I..."

He kissed her once again. His mouth hungry yet gentle upon hers. "No more thinking bad thoughts."

Bonnie opened her mouth to speak, but Damon hushed her with the insertion of his tongue. Effectively silencing her words.

"No more talking either...I just want you to feel, okay?"

They stared into each others eyes.

Bonnie was afraid of what the future held in store because if she was feeling this way so early on in her pregnancy where the hell would her head be by the time the baby was born. She didn't want to think about it.

Maybe Dr. Jackie was right, once she heard the baby's heart beat then everything would change for the better. And she would feel happy about being a mother.

So with her mind set to thinking only positively, she made herself stop worrying and focused instead on what was about to take place between her and the man she loved.

Bonnie reached up and caressed Damon's face adoringly. "Then stop talking and make me feel."


	24. Chapter 24

AUTHOR'S NOTE REMOVED


	25. Chapter 25

AUTHOR'S NOTE REMOVED


	26. Chapter 26

Bonnie laid on her side with her head propped in the palm of her hand, watching as Damon slept next to her in their king sized bed.

It had been a few hours since they made love and Damon thereafter fell into a coma like slumber. Exhausted from trying to sate her hunger for his body.

But Bonnie wanted him again. Now.

So she waited for him to wake up, so that she could jump his bones once more before he had to leave.

Not being able to resist, she touched his chest, lightly laying her open palm against his smooth warm skin.

Damon didn't stir not even a little bit.

She caressed his muscles, loving the feel of his body against her hand.

He was so beautiful. Perfectly made. His sex appeal on ten and quickly mounting to the point where Bonnie couldn't get enough of him.

They had sex at least once a day now.

It was crazy how her libido kicked into overdrive with the pregnancy, and Damon was trying his damndest to keep up with her.

She had to have _it_ all the time like some nymphomaniac and if she didn't get _it_ , Bonnie became cranky and irritable with the slightest thing setting her off.

Unable to stop herself, she lowered her head and began to kiss all over his chest.

After a minute or so even that wasn't enough. She wanted to taste his skin, so she dragged her tongue over one of his nipples sucking it into her mouth.

Her eyes snapped up to his face expecting that to wake him, but it didn't.

Damon was dead to the world.

Bonnie knew he had to be worn out physically to not feel her kisses and a slight pang of guilt seized her.

Last night, the poor guy barely stepped into their bedroom good before she was pushing him against the closed door and unzipping his pants.

And now she was literally waiting with bated breath for him to wake up so she could feel his hardness inside of her once more and the pleasure their coupling would bring.

Biting her lip with an almost wicked grin on her face, Bonnie pushed the covers off Damon exposing his naked body to the sunlight and her pussy got wet just looking at him.

The need to fuck becoming almost unbearable to take.

Desire consumed her very core.

Moistening her lips with the tip of her tongue, she ran her hand over his member and moaned softly as she began to gently massage him, wanting to get him hard so that she could sit on top of his erection and ride him, but it wasn't working.

And then something occurred to her.

Moving from her position, she slide down the bed just below his waist and took him into her mouth. Her tongue stroking his flesh.

Never having given oral sex before, Bonnie wasn't sure if she was doing it right. So she just went on instinct and did what she thought would feel good to him, but more importantly make him erect.

It took a good minute and Damon's eyes popped open. He gasped from the pleasure of being in her warm, wet mouth.

"Bonnie, what are you...damn."

"Morning sleepy head." She said smiling up at him, biting her lip.

"I swear you're going to be the death of me, I just know it." He groaned, throwing his arm across his face.

Bonnie laughed softly, but then got back to business and proceeded to lick him like a lollipop.

Damon wasn't expecting it to feel as good as it did. He grabbed Bonnie by the back of her hair, squeezing his eyes shut.

Of course his body was responding to her attention, but it was taking a long time for him to get back hard and Bonnie was starting to worry she'd drained him dry from all the sex they were having.

"Damon something's wrong. You're not getting hard. I think I broke it!"

He laughed.

"Why are you laughing? It's not funny. I broke your dick!" She said, clearly getting upset.

"Bonnie stop. You didn't break my dick. Look, just wrap your hand around it and start tugging up and down like you're jacking me off."

"Shit." He groaned when she began to do it.

"That feels good to you?" She asked curiously.

"Hell yeah." He said closing his eyes. He licked his lips, trying to steady his breathing. "Now put it in your mouth and suck it."

Bonnie did as he suggested and marveled in awe when his dick began to lengthen and hardened in her hand.

When her wrist began to get tired, Bonnie just used her mouth to tease him, circling her tongue around the head and using her free hand to gently massage his balls.

Damon knew if Bonnie didn't stop soon, he'd come and that would defeat the purpose.

"Enough!"

Startled from his sudden outburst, Bonnie didn't have time to react when she found herself being physically removed from him and placed on her back.

Damon covered Bonnie with his body and entered hers in one smooth motion, causing her to cry out in ecstasy.

She buried her face against him, her arms and legs holding his body tight as he fucked her pussy.

"Deeper...go deeper." She hissed into his ear, opening her legs wider so he could.

And he did, practically touching her spinal cord.

Bonnie lost her fucking mind. Her eyes rolling into the back of her head when he finally made her come.

Her body spasmed violently around him.

Damon soon followed, her climax triggering his and his weight crashed down on top of Bonnie, pinning her body to the bed.

Bonnie stared up at the ceiling in awe, trying to catch her breath. "How did we not just die from that? Oh my god!"

Damon chuckled.

"No I'm serious. That should have killed us both." She said, kissing Damon's shoulder. Holding him tight. "You're so amazing, you know that...I love you so much Damon." She said, burying her face in his neck.

Damon lifted his head from off the pillow and stared into Bonnie's eyes. "And I love you...you're my world Bonnie." He said touching her face, his eyes gleaming with adoration.

They kissed each other with their eyes open. And it was tender and sweet.

Not having pulled out of her yet, Damon's dick began to twitch inside of her. "And you thought you broke it. Never." He smiled against her lips.

Bonnie gasped at the feeling of her body getting worked up all over again. "Damn Damon." Moaning softly she sank her fingers in his hair. "Yes...oh god yes."

Damon began their dance of love for the second time that morning. Loving every minute of it.

Bonnie closed her eyes and just held on to him. "You feel so good. Don't stop...don't ever stop."

* * *

Even though it was the middle of October, it was 80 degrees outside.

Wanting to take advantage of the warm sunny days before Autumn really made an appearance and the temperature dropped, Damon fired up the the grill to barbecue.

He had steaks for the adults and hot dogs for Tristan.

Bonnie was in the kitchen helping Abby make the baked beans and corn on the cob, while Tristan was upstairs in his room playing video games, getting over a slight cold.

Felicia went to the store because she wanted some potato salad with her steak.

Now that Felicia had her driver's license and got a job at Wal-Mart, Bonnie allowed her to drive the Jetta back and forth to work.

Bonnie didn't give her the car, which was why she was upset right now because Felicia didn't ask her could she drive it to the store.

Felicia just jumped in the car and took off, not saying one word to Bonnie. And Bonnie was feeling some type of way about that shit. .

Abby tried unsuccessfully to soothe things over and talk to Bonnie before Felicia got back. "Honey be reasonable, you have a brand new car parked outside. So why are you so upset?"

"Because mama, she didn't ask me if she could drive it!"

"I don't understand Bonnie. You let her use it to drive to work"

"Exactly! To drive for WORK. So for anything else, she needs to ask me before she jumps her happy ass into my car!"

Abby shook her head. "Bonnie, you're wrong baby. You have so much. Why won't you just give her the car?"

The garage door opened and Felicia walked into the kitchen carrying the bags for the stuff to make the potato salad. "Yeah Bonnie, why won't you give me the car? You know I need it."

"Because it's mine!" Bonnie snapped angrily.

That was her car that she bought and paid for by her damn self! And Felicia wasn't getting her hands on it!

Felicia scoffed at Bonnie's angry outburst. "You don't even drive it anymore. I swear you're so fucking selfish!"

Bonnie stopped mixing the brown sugar into the baked beans and stared at Felicia like she'd lost her damn mind.

"Me? Selfish? How can you even fix your tongue to utter those words to me after _everything_ I've done for you?!"

"Because you are Bonnie!"

"Alright girls, that's enough!" Abby shouted over their raised voices.

Damon came into the kitchen with the steaks and stopped in his tracks. "Is everything okay in here, ladies?"

"Everything's fine." Bonnie answered immediately, not wanting Damon to get involved.

Felicia rolled her eyes. "The devil is a liar."

"And you ought to know!" Bonnie shot back.

"Girls stop, please!" Abby yelled.

Silence.

"Bonnie, tell me what's going on."

Bonnie wouldn't look at Damon and neither did she speak, so Felicia filled him in on their argument. "Bonnie won't let me have the Jetta even though she never drives it anymore."

Was that all? Damon thought something major had went down. Women! "She's right Bonnie, you don't drive the car anymore. So let her have it. What's the big deal?"

Pure unadulterated rage filled Bonnie's being from the inside out and her green eyes gleamed hotly with anger when she laid them on him.

"The big deal is it's my fucking car... MINE! I bought that car with my hard earned money. Me and me alone! Was Felicia on that stage with me shaking her ass to keep food on the table and a roof over all of our heads? Hell no! What she did do was steal from us every fucking chance she got! And not ONCE since she's been sober has she come to either me or mama to apologize! So I'm not giving her sorry ass shit! And I'm so sick and tired of you sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong. When you and Stefan get into an argument, do I ever interfere? No! I stay out of it because I know my place. But you on the other hand don't know your place Damon. You are always getting involve in my family and it has to stop! You are not the head of this household, so stay out of it!"

"Bonnie!" Abby gasped in shock.

Damon and Bonnie stared at each other, both of them now hot with anger.

What she said to him was pretty damn harsh and uncalled for. Damon needed Bonnie to know that shit wouldn't fly with him. Ever. That her actions would always have consequences to them, especially when it came to him.

So breaking their heated staring contest, his gaze swung to Felicia and his eyes held a vengeful glint to them.

"You know what Felicia now that I think about it, that Jetta is on its last legs anyway. Now that you're working you'll need a reliable vehicle, so I'll buy you a car okay. Don't sweat it. It's not that serious."

Felicia squealed with happiness jumping up and down like a kid. "Oh my god, really Damon?!"

"Really." He said, glancing back at Bonnie and her face was like stone.

She walked out of the kitchen two seconds later not saying another word to anyone.

Damon's jaw tensed at her sudden silence, but he didn't go after her.

Knowing Bonnie like he did, he knew she needed some time to cool off and he would give her space.

Clearing his throat, he met Abby's eyes. "Can you finish those baked beans by yourself? I want everything done for when Bonnie's ready to eat. Hopefully she'll get hungry sooner rather than later."

"Yeah I got it." Abby said softly.

Damon nodded his head, clearly upset by what just went down between him and Bonnie. "Good. Well, I'm going to finish up on the grill."

"Okay." She responded.

Damon placed the cooked me into the over to keep it warm and then went back outside to check on the last of the meat still on the grill.

Abby cut her eyes to her oldest child and saw the little smug smile on Felicia's face before she turned away, humming to herself.."

* * *

Two hours later, Damon went to Bonnie with the excuse that dinner was ready. So he was able to save face and not look like he was the first one to cave.

"Dinner's ready." He said coming to stand inside of the doorway of their bedroom.

Bonnie acted like she didn't hear him as she laid in the bed watching television. But then she spoke.

"Fuck you and your dinner. Now leave me alone." She said from the bed without her eyes leaving the television.

Damon gave a humorless chuckle from where he stood, "I swear that wicked little tongue of yours is going to be the death of me someday, but I'd much prefer the little death I experienced this morning when it was caressing my cock."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Well I hope you enjoyed it because it'll never happen again. Ever...because you've just killed my desire for you."

Damon crossed over the threshold closing the door behind him and locked it.

He came over to the bed, standing over her and snatched the covers from her body. "You sure about that?"

Bonnie glared up at him, wearing nothing but a tee shirt and a pair of panties. "Positive!"

"That's bullshit and you know it."

"Just because you think that, doesn't make it so Damon!"

"Then let's see, shall we."

Bonnie swallowed hard, realizing too late that she'd just played herself.

Damon took off his shirt, undoing his pants and let them fall to the floor. Then he stepped out of them.

Now totally naked, he used his body to press her much smaller one to the bed and laid between her legs.

Bonnie's breathing increased, her chest heaving up and down.

Pushing up her shirt, he saw that she wasn't wearing a bra. He bent his head and began to kiss her breasts.

Bonnie gritted her teeth, making her body not respond to his touch.

With his eyes never leaving hers, he pulled off her shirt.

Then grabbing a fist-full of her panties, Damon tore them from her body.

Bonnie didn't move.

Using the head of his penis, he slide it up and down the slit of her pussy. All the while watching her reaction. But Bonnie gave him nothing. She just laid there.

Fine. He was just beginning with her anyway, Damon told himself. There was more to come. He could do this all night if he had too.

When Damon pushed himself inside of Bonnie's body, she didn't make a sound. Not even a whimper.

He began to fuck her.

With her legs spread eagle and her arms by her side, she denied Damon the warmth of her embrace.

And still, neither broke eye contact with the other. It was a battle of wills.

After a while, tiny beads of sweat began to form at Damon's hair line and Bonnie knew he wouldn't last much longer.

He saw when the self-satisfied look appear in her eyes.

More determined than ever to make her break, Damon raised his torso off Bonnie and braced all of his weight on his knees.

Placing both of her legs over his shoulders, he sunk back into her body with the deepest of penetrations.

Bonnie's eyes widened like saucers and an uncontrollable high pitched squeal ripped from her throat.

He was so deeply embedded within her that it was almost too much to take.

Bonnie tried to slide her legs down from off his shoulders but he stopped her, gripping them in place with his hands. "Don't you dare! Leave them there."

Damon began to thrust inside of her once again and it left her breathless.

And all to soon that very familiar feeling began to build inside of her.

Bonnie began to panic because she could feel herself about to come.

Able to get one leg off his shoulder, she tried to use her foot to push against his chest to make him stop, but Damon grabbed Bonnie's leg, locking his arm around it so she couldn't move and he pinned her to the bed with his body once again.

"I'm going to make your ass cum, even if it kills me trying to do it!" He threatened.

Bonnie tried to push him off her once again, but Damon grabbed both her arms and held them above her head. "Stopping fighting it Bonnie and just let it happen!"

"Why...so you can show me how much of a man you are because I had the audacity to bruise your fragile male ego?! Well I won't do it! I won't let you humiliate me like that!"

That stopped Damon cold. He stared down at Bonnie not being able to help but to admire her beauty. "I'm not trying to humiliate you, Bonnie."

"Then what do you call it?"

He shook his head. "None of this would have happened if you didn't go off on me."

"Well you should have stayed out of it."

"Bonnie you were being unreasonable."

"No I wasn't. But putting that aside for a second, I don't care if I'm in the wrong or I'm right, you should have my back regardless. The way you just sided with Felicia really fucked me up Damon."

For the first time he saw how really upset she was about this and he apologized to her. "Hey, I'm sorry."

"You can't do that again. Ever."

"I won't."

She stared up at him not saying anything.

Damon caressed her cheek. "Bonnie, I won't."

"Okay." She said after a moment.

"Are we good now?" Damon asked.

Bonnie smiled up at him. "Yeah, we're good."

"Then am I allowed to make you cum now? He asked sheepishly, biting his lower lip. Looking sexy as hell.

"Does it look like I'm stopping you?"

Damon lowered his head, kissing her lips.

Bonnie wrapped her legs around Damon's waist and her arms around his neck, holding him close. Her warmth enveloping him.

* * *

The two of them showered together before getting redressed to go have dinner.

But before Bonnie could open the bedroom door, Damon grabbed her one last time pulling her into his arms. "I'm so glad we made up. I hate fighting with you."

"Me too." She agreed.

Not being able to resist her, Damon kissed her once more and she melted against him.

After a few moment of this, he was the first to pull away before they got carried away.

Reaching up Bonnie used her thumb to wipe her glossy chapstick from his mouth. "Now we just got to deal with Felicia's temper tantrum once she finds out you're not buying her a car."

Damon frowned."Wait, when did I say I wasn't buying her the car?"

Bonnie blinked. "Excuse me?"

He shook his head. "Bonnie baby, I never said that I wasn't going to get her a car."

"Oh my god. I don't believe this shit. Damon, you have no right buying my sister a car! You're crossing the line!"

Bending his knees to be at eye level with her, he grasped her face in the palm of his hands. "Bonnie, I already told her I would do it. You know I can't go back on my word once I've given it."

She scoffed at that. "Oh really now...well you promised me you'd find a way to get out of marrying another woman, but you didn't do that! So you can miss me with that bullshit!" She said heatedly, yanking the bedroom door open.

Damon tried to grab Bonnie's arm to stop her from leaving the room, but she snatched it free. "No Damon, don't..." She said holding up her hand to stop him from touching her. "You're such a hypocrite because if I _ever_ were to cross the line like that and do something you didn't like, you'd have a fucking fit and you know it."

She walked away from him shaking her head in disbelief.

Damon let her go, running a frustrated hand through his black hair.

He was still waiting to hear from Elijah about his petition to the court to gain power of attorney over his mother. Until then he had to continue to keep Bonnie in the dark about his plans to have his marriage to Caroline annulled.

Damon wondered when he would catch a fucking break because he was long overdue for one.

* * *

Klaus ended up coming to dinner unexpectedly and lucky for him Bonnie didn't want her steak, so she gave it to him to Damon's displeasure.

But he let it go, not wanting to start another argument with her.

Bonnie ate a hot dog with some baked beans, not participating much in any of the conversation at the table.

When she was done with her food, she just got up and left the table going into the living room.

Damon tried to act like nothing was wrong and that everything was fine but he wasn't fooling anyone.

No one said anything when Bonnie turned on some trap music.

It wasn't until she started to dance that she began to capture everyone's attention at the dining room table, one by one.

Felicia was the first to look over at her and she looked somewhat jealous as she watched her baby sister dance. Because in her wildest dreams, she could never move like that if she wanted to.

Then Abby happened to look up in her direction and a tiny smile appeared on her face because in her younger days, she could move like that too.

Bonnie got it from her mama.

Damon tried to ignore what was going on just a few feet away in the the other room and continued his conversation with Klaus.

Trying to be a good friend, Klaus was trying his damndest not to look Bonnie's way and kept eye contact with Damon.

He was good for a hot minute, but then his eyes had a mind of their own and he glanced her way.

When Klaus' eyes suddenly widened in awe and he uttered almost breathlessly the word _damn_ , Damon finally looked over his shoulder and he froze.

Because just a few feet away, the woman he loved was twerking her pretty little ass for all it was worth like the professional stripper she was once upon a time.

Damon jumped up out of his seat and crossed the room so fast, yanking Bonnie up by her arms.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" He yelled in her face.

Seeing Abby get up from the table out of his peripheral, Damon pulled Bonnie out of the room.

He took her outside on the porch for some privacy.

Bonnie yanked free of his hold, just as angry as he was. "What's the matter Damon, you don't like me showing Klaus some of my old stripper moves? Did I cross some sort of line by dancing like that in front of your friend? Is that why you're angry? Because what you are feeling right now is how I felt a couple of hours ago!"

Never in Damon's life had he felt this murderous urge to kill someone as he did in that moment staring at Bonnie.

He seriously felt like strangling her pretty little neck for dancing that way in front of Klaus and allowing him to see her that way.

But he realized now she only did it to make a point. And boy did she ever.

Damon felt that shit to his very core.

Swallowing hard, he backed Bonnie against the front door and kissed her on the mouth, almost roughly so.

After a few intense seconds, he pulled away pressing his forehead against hers. "Fine. You win, okay. I won't buy Felicia the car."

Bonnie gripped his wrists, shaking her head. "It's not about winning Damon. Just respect my wishes when it comes to my family, like I do with yours. That's all."

Damon nodded his head.

Bonnie wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with the soft hairs at the back on his head. Trying to calm him down.

After a moment, she laughed. "Damn I swear for a minute there, I thought you were going to strangle me."

Damon tightened his arms around Bonnie and let her make light of the moment, deciding it was best not to respond.


	27. Chapter 27

Lily Salvatore looked almost unrecognizable dressed as she was in a pair of leggings, a cotton tee and an over-sized cardigan all from Target.

Having married up, acquiring a taste for the finer things in life, she was no longer used to wearing such low quality material against her skin, so she could feel the difference.

Only having access to generic named shampoo and conditioner, her long dark hair was pulled back in a dull, limp ponytail with wisp of flyaways everywhere.

Standing in front of the window gazing across the courtyard of the facility, she appeared to haven't heard a thing Damon said to her, but she did. Every single word.

So many thoughts ran through her mind and then she realized something...she didn't care. Fuck it all.

So what that Damon had power of attorney over her and now had legal control over the company.

Fuck it.

So what his marriage to Caroline was being annulled.

Fuck that too.

Because none of it matter to her anymore.

The only thing she was obsessing over and had been since the moment she opened her eyes in the hospital was the fact that SHE DIDN'T DIE.

Who downs a handful of pain killers chasing them with a bottle of vodka and lives to tell the tale? She did, that's who.

God really did have a sense of humor. It was clear

He wanted her to suffer of this earth a little while longer.

Unaware of the inner turmoil happening inside of his mother, Damon continued talking.

"And there's something else you should, mother." Not quite sure how much more news she could take, but she needed to hear this. He wanted her to know what was happening on the outside while she was getting treatment.

Lily didn't turn around. What was the point? There had been plenty of occasions where Damon didn't give her his undivided attention.

"Bonnie's pregnant with my child and I'm going to ask her to marry me."

Well if that didn't beat all. It was like the icing on the shit cake of her life.

Lily's eyelids fell closed, the expression on her face pained.

Yes God did have a sense of humor, she thought.

Everything that she didn't want to happen was unfolding as if it were destined to.

"Did you hear what I said...Bonnie and I are having a baby. You're going to be a grandmother."

Damon was hoping that her becoming a grandmother soon would change things. He was wrong though. Lily's dislike for Bonnie ran too deep and that was because she saw herself in the younger woman.

Lily too had been a beautiful girl on the come up looking to better her station in life and she managed to turn the head of the wealthy business tycoon Giuseppe Salvatore. And once she got her hooks into him, she didn't look back. Of course she loved Giuseppe. He was the love of her life. But it didn't start out that way because she married him for his money.

Love came after.

Opening her eyes they blazed with fury and she turned her heated gaze on her son.

"You stupid, stupid boy. How could you allow yourself to get trapped by that gold-digging stripper whore? For years, I warned you and your brother about girls like her! I told you what they would do. How they would try to trick you into marriage. But did you listen? You never listen to me. Now look at you. She must have seen you coming a mile away and you just took the bait. Thinking with your dick! And now you're going to give her your father's name. You're pathetic! You make me sick. I can't even look at you."

She then turned her back on him.

Not allowing the hurt to register on his face, Damon swallowed down her painful words, along with the last bit of dying hope he had thinking his mother would come around.

Mentally collecting himself, he cleared his throat, dislodging the knot that got stuck there just moments ago.

"I'm sorry you feel that way. And though it's disappointing, I should have expected this reaction from you. But I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, hoping against hope that this place was making a difference in you. I guess I was wrong."

He began to gather his things, picking up his coat along with the court documents he brought her to see.

"Stefan will come on Saturday. He also has some good news to share with you...hopefully his will make you happy."

Lily didn't respond as if Damon didn't existed to her.

After a moment more of silence, he turned to leave. "Goodbye mother."

* * *

Bonnie absolutely loved the glossy shine of the hardwood floors as she walked from the kitchen into the living room where there was a fire going.

It was cold outside and the house felt all warm and cozy, smelling of vanilla scented candles.

Dressed in an over-sized knit sweat and some leggings, Bonnie took a sip of her hot coco before placing it down on the coffee table and took a seat on the sofa, getting herself comfortable.

With her hair pulled back in a french braid with wispy bangs, she looked nothing like the Project girl she once was.

When she walked through the aisles of her neighborhood Whole Foods, no one batted an eyelash because from the car she drove to the tasteful clothes she now wore, Bonnie looked like she belonged there.

In essence, she looked like money.

It was all so very deceiving really because inside she was the exact same person she was before meeting Damon, now people just treated her differently.

She was still that girl that preferred her mama' corn bread and collard greens over eating at a five star restaurant.

What bothered her though was this presumed status she acquire by default from being with a man like Damon, falsely making people think she was something she was not.

Everything she had now was because of him. She had absolutely zero to do with it. Which was why nothing really truly felt like hers though Damon took steps to legally make it so. And Bonnie loved him for that because he wanted her to know that no matter what happened, she'd be good.

Abby came into the living room and sat down in her chair, interrupting Bonnie's quiet time by turning on the TV.

She spotted the hot cocoa on the coffee table. "Hand me that, I want to taste it."

Bonnie looked over to her mama and saw her gesturing to the cup of cocoa. "Now mama, I asked if you wanted some when I was making it and you said no."

"Well I want some now, so hand it here and let me taste it."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, but got up from the sofa picking up the cup and gave it to Abby.

Standing beside the recliner, Bonnie waited while she took a few sips. "Oooo yes, that's real good...didn't you say it's organic?"

Bonnie sighed softly. "Yes mama it's organic."

Taking one last swallow, she gave it back to Bonnie. "Yep, that's good. Make me some after dinner okay. It'll be my dessert."

"Sure." Bonnie said going back to her seat.

"Where's Damon, he's usually here by now waiting on you hand and foot?"

Taken a little aback by that statement, Bonnie frowned at her. "What are you talking about? Damon doesn't wait on me hand and foot."

"Then you must be blind not to see it...Bonnie that man is so in love with you and that baby. You should see the way he looks at you when he thinks no one's watching."

The expression of Bonnie's face became thoughtful, her green eyes curious. "How does he look at me?"

"Like if you were to die, he'd die too."

"Dang ma, why you got to be so morbid about it." She chuckled.

"It's the _feeling_ I get whenever I look at him looking at you."

Bonnie's face sobered immediately. Mother and daughter stared at each other. The women in their family had the gift of _insight,_ meager as it was, so a _feeling_ was never to be taken lightly or ignored.

Bonnie was the first to break eye contact and she looked away, swallowing hard. "Is there something you want to tell me mama?"

"Like I said, Damon loves you...maybe a little too much because the other night when you were dancing and he grabbed you...I _felt_ his energy and it was dark."

"Of course it was dark, he was angry."

"He wanted to do you harm, Bonnie. I could feel it. I was afraid for you."

Bonnie glanced back at her mother. "Damon would never hurt me."

"For a moment he wanted to, but when you both came back inside he was fine."

"So what are you saying?"

"That he's capable of harming you if pushed far enough...it's in him to do it."

Bonnie tried to down play Abby's warning. "Mama that can be said of anyone. Everyone's capable of something given the right circumstances."

"True. But I'm talking about him. And what I felt. You can take it or leave it, but either way you know."

Holding her mother's stare, Bonnie nodded her head.

* * *

While Abby was in the kitchen making dinner, Bonnie was upstairs helping Tristan with his homework.

They had just finished up moments ago and Bonnie was about to head back downstairs. "Dinner should be ready in a few minutes, okay? So wash your hands and come down to eat."

Putting his folder into his book bag, Tristan looked up at Bonnie. "Can I have a Little Debbie pie after?"

Walking to the door, "Only if you eat all of your vegetables."

He frowned slightly, thinking. "What are we having?"

"Brussel sprouts."

He made a face sticking out his tongue. "Yuck, brussel sprouts taste like cabbage and I hate cabbage."

Bonnie shrugged. "Then I guess no pie." Leaving the room.

Carefully making her way down the stairs, Bonnie went into her bedroom to grab her vitamins and got a pleasant surprise when she saw Damon laying on top of the bed with his shoes off.

"Hey, I didn't know you were here."

"Yeah, I got in a few minutes ago."

"Long day?" She asked because it was six thirty and he was laying down.

Bonnie went to the nightstand on her side of the bed to grab the vitamins from the drawer.

His none response had her glancing his way and she frowned when she saw that telltale vein in the middle of his forehead.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." His tone almost sullen like a kid when something was bothering them.

Putting the vitamins on top of the nightstand, Bonnie crawled on top of the bed, tucking a pillow underneath her as she laid down on her stomach next to him.

"Don't give me that because that vein popping out of your forehead says otherwise. You're either angry or very upset about something, causing you to think too hard." Gently massaging his forehead to relax his mind.

Damon pulled her hand to his lips, kissing it. Not wanting to bring up his mother and the awful things she said to him. "Now that you're with me, I'm fine."

Bonnie decided not to push him to talk if he didn't want to, so she changed the subject. "Guess what?"

"What?" He replied, tapping the tip of her nose with his index finger. He scooched down some getting comfortable, but mostly to be closer to her face.

"I did really good today. For breakfast I had some bacon and scrambled eggs and a bowl of granola with yogurt and for lunch I ate the grilled salmon from last night with some broccoli and rice and in between all of that I ate some fruit."

A soft smile appeared on Damon's handsome face. Reaching out he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

"You're going to be a great mom, you know that. I see how you are with Tristan and I can't wait to see you that way with our child."

"I hope I am. I'm praying so."

He frowned slightly. "Why do you keep doubting yourself? I don't understand it. You're so loving and nurturing with Tristan. Why wouldn't you be that way with our little one?"

"I don't know. I just feel...I can't explain it. Something just feels off."

"It's your first pregnancy, baby. Your hormones are all over the place trying to adjust to all of the changes happening to your body. Of course you're going to feel out of wack for a while. But the further along you get the more I feel like everything will kick into place, you know. Stop worrying so. You're going to be a fantastic mother. You got this. Like with everything else in your life. You...got...this."

Surprisingly that made her feel better. "I hope so."

"Well I know so." Leaning forward, he lightly kissed her lips. A gentle peck. Her lips were so fucking soft and sweet. He pressed closer, the kiss growing hungrier with each second that passed.

Damon made himself stop. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply trying to get a hold of himself. "I want to be inside of you so badly right now ...it's like I can't get enough."

They made love just that morning but it felt like he hadn't touched her in weeks. Months.

"I know. I feel the same way. It's so crazy."

"Bonnie, I've been thinking a lot about this lately. I want us to go away together. Just you and me. The holidays will be here soon and things will be hectic until the first of the year. I want some alone time with you...in fact I need it. We both do. I was thinking some place warm before it gets too cold. Maybe the Bahamas."

She smiled at him, touching his face. "You want to take me to the Bahamas?"

He grinned sexily. "Are you kidding? I'll find any excuse to see that hot little body in another bikini."

Bonnie laughed. "It won't be hot for too long."

"Which is why we should go now and enjoy ourselves. Bonnie please say yes. I want a whole week with you. Seven days of just us and no one else. I'll pay for your mother's nurses aid to be with her during the days while Felicia is at work."

Hearing Felicia's name was like a drunk in church. She sobered up quick.

"Damon I can't leave for a week Felicia's..."

He jumped in, cutting her off. "Doing great. She has a job. She got her driver's license. And now it's time for her to be a mother to her son without you looking over her shoulder. Now's the perfect chance to get the ball rolling in the right direction."

Bonnie didn't like the sound of that. Seven days was a long time to be away from her family.

"Three days."

Damon wasn't trying to hear that. He had plans for this trip that included a marriage proposal on the beach and after that a whole lot of fucking.

"Seven."

Bonnie leaned closer capturing his lips in a greedy kiss that looked like she was trying to eat his face.

When Damon moaned into her mouth and tried to pull her even closer, she pulled away but not before gently biting his lower lip.

"Four." She breathed into his mouth before giving him a light peck.

Lustful blue eyes gazed hotly back at her. "I want seven and that's what I'm going to get."

Seeing there was no room for negotiating with him, she gave in. "Fine. When do we leave?"

"As soon as I can get you a passport. I'm going to call in a few favors to expedite the process. If things go my way expect to be leaving in a week."

"A week! Damon's there's no way I can be ready in a week! I won't have time to..."

He cut her off once again, but this time by rolling on top of her and making a space for himself between her legs.

He teased her lips with his mouth not quite kissing her.

"I'm going to have my wicked way with you in the Bahamas. I'm going to make you scream."

Bonnie's green eyes darkened with desire. She licked his lips, her legs wrapping around his waist. "You promise."

Damon nibbled on hers in return. "Cross my heart."

Bonnie's pussy was growing wet for him. "Remember this morning?"

Damon's blue eyes darkened as well. "Talking about when I was fucking you so good that you squirted all over my dick?"

She actually blushed but her cheeks didn't turn red. "It's like the sex just keeps getting better."

"You tasted so sweet afterward. I swear I could have licked your pussy for hours."

"Damon, Aunt Bonnie dinner's ready." Tristan said from the doorway.

The both of them froze in place, eyes wide. No longer lost in each other.

They completely forgot that the bedroom door was wide open and there they laid in a very compromising position.

Thank God they still had their clothes on.

"Okay buddy, we'll be there in a second."

Bonnie hurriedly untangled herself from Damon pushing him off her and sitting up. "Thanks sweetheart, we're coming. You go on ahead."

"Okie dokie." The little boy replied walking away.

"Do you think he heard us?" Bonnie whispered.

"Naw, he couldn't have." He answered, shaking his head. "We weren't talking loud enough."

"Shit...we have to be more careful." She said getting off the bed. "Why didn't you close the door? We were two seconds away from tearing off each others clothes."

"Bonnie you were the last one to enter the room. Why didn't you close it?"

"Because we were just talking at first! How was I supposed to know that it was going to turn X-rated?!"

Damon gave Bonnie a pointed look. "Now baby, you know damn well that since the pregnancy we're always two seconds away from ripping each others clothes off."

Bonnie sighed, rubbing her forehead. He was right.

"Well from now on that door is to remain closed at all times."

Damon shrugged. "Fine by me."

"Come on, dinner's waiting."

"You know what, I think I'm going to take a shower first. Today's been a long day."

Bonnie gave Damon a sympathetic look, walking back to him.

Now sitting up on the side of the bed, she moved between his legs, putting her arms around him.

"Baby I'm sorry you had such a crappy day, but it's over now and you're home with me where you are loved okay?" Her fingers massaging the back of his head.

Damon closed his eyes, his head pressed against her breasts. His arms tightened around her tiny waist.

"You have no idea how much I love you...if you did you'd run from me."

Bonnie pulled away, holding his face between her hands so he'd look at her. "Hey, never that. You hear me. We in this thing together...it's me and you boo."

Damon chuckled. "I thought you hated that term."

She rolled her eyes. "I do, but it was the only word that seemed to fit.

Damon's hands lowered to her booty. "Like you in these leggings." He squeezed her ass for a few seconds and then gave it a good smack."

Bonnie immediately pulled away from Damon, taking two steps back. "The door's open."

"Then close it."

"No. You're going to take that shower and preferably a cold one and I'm going to go eat."

"You're no fun at all." He pouted.

"Well one of us need to keep a cool head."

"Fine." He sighed and began to undress, taking off his shirt.

Bonnie bit her bottom lip, chewing on it.

Damon then stood up from the bed and began to undo his belt and her eyes lowered below his waist.

After a moment more, she shook herself and then hurried from the bedroom, slamming the door shut.

Bonnie could hear Damon's amused laughter as she walked quickly down the hallway.

* * *

Damon and Bonnie sat across from each other at the small table while getting their grub on at the Juicy Crab restaurant, eating their version of a seafood boil which consisted of delicious seasoned King crab legs, corn, potatoes and sausage.

Bonnie was in heaven. The food was so good.

Being the gentleman he was, Damon took on the task of cutting open each of their crab legs with some scissors, not wanting Bonnie to hurt her hands and she was more than happy to let him do it.

And when she ran out of corn, he gave her some of his.

"I swear if this place wasn't so expensive I'd eat here every freaking day."

They had just finished eating and were walking to Damon's car.

"Yeah, the food was pretty good." He replied, taking Bonnie's hand and linking their fingers together.

A group of people were walking towards them, but Damon and Bonnie weren't playing attention.

"Tinker Bell? Is that you?"

Not having been called that in years Bonnie looked up to find her ballet partner walking towards her.

They went to the same performance high school together. He was an import from England getting his training in America. He came in during sophomore year and being of English-Pakistani descent, his dark good looks made him an instant heartthrob among the girls in their ballet program. Not to mention that he was probably one of the few heterosexual boys in their class.

"Oh my god, that is you!"

Pure happiness shot through Bonnie at seeing him again. "Zayn...oh my god!"

"Shit I knew it was you instantly...I fucking knew it!"

Bonnie let go of Damon's hand when Zayn was close enough to hug.

The two of them pulled apart after a moment.

"Look at you, you've filled out. You gave you permission to grow a woman's body?"

Bonnie laughed in response.

"I wonder if I can still lift you with ease?"

And without warning the motherfucker actually did it, but Bonnie didn't miss a beat.

It was like she was expecting it and was ready to go when he suddenly grasped his hands around her waist and lifted her above his head.

She braced her hands firmly on his shoulders and extended her right leg up towards the sky with the left one pointed towards the ground. The pose was perfect. Like she did it everyday.

Some people were walking past and saw them and started to clap. "Wow, look at that!"

Damon stood there watching Bonnie with the biggest smile on her face and he realized this was what she looked like genuinely happy.

Zayn placed Bonnie back to the ground and her green eyes were actually gleaming.

"Not bad, not bad at all...what's it been now two years since you left ballet?"

"Give or take, but whose counting." She downplayed it, feeling very uncomfortable with the topic so she changed the subject. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Last I heard you were in London dancing for the Royal Ballet."

"I'm still with the company Tinker Bell. You're looking at their principal dancer!"

Bonnie's jaw literally dropped. "Oh my god Zayn that's fantastic! Congratulations. How long?"

"It's been over a year now and I'm still going strong."

She shook her head in disbelief. "Wow...that's really great."

"Hey Zayn man, I'm sorry to interrupt but we only have an hour before we have to be back to rehearsals."

He ignored his friend. "Look Bonnie, we are here in Atlanta performing at the Art's Center. I want you to come to Thursday night's show. I'm going to leave your name at the door and you can bring a friend if you want. I have to go now, but we'll talk more after the performance. We'll go to dinner and catch up, okay?"

Bonnie nodded her head. "Okay."

Zayn pulled her into his arms once more for another quick hug and he kissed her cheek.

Then he was gone.

Bonnie stood there frozen to the spot in shock, her mind reeling from the literal blast from the past she just experienced.

"Bonnie, you ready to go or what?" Damon asked from behind her where he'd been standing all along.

She whirled around and the almost startled look on her face said it all.

Bonnie had literally forgotten all about him.

Looking unsettled, she ran an anxious hand through her hair and tried to recover from the misstep.

"Um that was Zayn Malik. He and I were in the same ballet program. We were partnered together for must of our training and performances. He was my lifter."

Damon tried not to take it personally that for five full minutes Bonnie ignored him while she talked to another man not once acknowledging his presence or introducing him.

"I figured as much when he lifted you from off the ground." His tone dry. "So why did he keep calling you Tinker Bell?"

"Oh, it was a nickname some of the guys thought up for me because I was the smallest girl in our class and light as a feather."

"Cute...so you ready to go?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah, let's go."

The two of them walked to his car in silence.

Damon opened the car door for Bonnie and she slipped inside, putting on her seat belt.

He slammed the door shut, causing her to jump a little.

When he got into the car, she tried to clear the air between them. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce you. It was just so shocking seeing Zayn like that out of the blue and I guess I got caught up in the past and I wasn't thinking. Please don't be mad."

Damon didn't say anything. He just started the car and drove off.

It wasn't until that moment Bonnie realized just how seriously she'd fucked up.


	28. Chapter 28

At times, Damon Salvatore was his own worst enemy. It was a fact. Past life experiences had taught him that he had a propensity for shooting himself in the foot.

He was very much aware of that flaw in his character and as an adult tried to recognize when he was headed down the dangerous road of self sabotage that eventually lead to his destruction.

And Damon did not want to destroy his relationship with Bonnie, so all through the ride home he kept his fucking mouth shut.

He would not give into that oh so mighty urge he had to question Bonnie's loyalty to him because he knew he was being ridiculous and must not overreact.

It was a stupid mistake.

In no way was Bonnie trying to be slick by not introducing him to that Zayn guy.

There were no ulterior motive behind her action. He had nothing to worry about, Damon told himself as he gripped the steering wheel, his speed on the interstate not going above seventy.

Besides Zayn was more than likely gay anyway.

Some of the tension left his hand and his grip eased somewhat on the wheel.

But what he couldn't let go of so easily was the fact that the woman he was in love with and was going to pop the question to just forgot he was standing there.

Bonnie literally forgot about him.

That right there was fucking with Damon's mind more than anything, causing all the turmoil inside of him.

He couldn't stop thinking about the way she smiled and how her green eyes lit up with joy.

Damon had never seen her look that genuinely happy before.

It was so clear to him in that moment of watching her that ballet was the true love of her life and though she never said it, she missed performing her art.

Bonnie never talked about it. Even when he asked her specific questions, she always found a way to change the subject. It was like it was something that she kept only for herself, never sharing with anyone not even with him.

A few weeks after moving into the house Damon discovered a box at the back of Bonnie's closet and thinking nothing of it he opened it.

Inside Damon found leotards, tights and ballet shoes that could only belong to Bonnie.

And packed underneath all of that at the very bottom of the box was a thick blue binder.

Being nosey Damon pulled it out and flipped through it, quickly realizing that it was a version of a vision board filled with page after page of magazine cut outs of ballerinas and snap shots of New York, London, and Paris.

Some pages where filled with only her thoughts such as the excitement she felt at getting accepted into the Alvin Ailey School of Ballet.

One page had the title Broadway glued to it and under the headline were images of famous plays such as Black Swan, Giselle and Sleeping Beauty.

Langston Hughes famous poem _A Dream Deferred_ immediately came to Damon's mind.

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore-And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over-like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

His heart broke for her because it was sad knowing that she had to give up her dreams for her family.

Suddenly feeling like he was reading her diary, Damon closed the binder putting it back and pushed the box out of sight in the back of the closet like Bonnie had it.

Maybe the reason Bonnie never discussed her dancing was because it hurt too much to do so, _like a festering sore that ran._

It didn't escape Damon's attention that the life Bonnie saw for herself in the future did not include a family. It was all about her career.

Coming to a slow stop, Damon parked the car in front of the closed garage. They were home.

Continuing his air of silence, he got out walking around to the other side of the vehicle to open Bonnie's door.

Holding out his hand to her, she took it and allowed him to help her out the car.

"The two of them stood there staring at each other.

Bonnie wanted so badly to reach up and touch Damon's face because he seemed so troubled. That vein in the middle of his forehead visible to the eye. But she didn't make a move towards him because his posture was stiff as if he was bracing himself for something. His overall body was just filled with tension. It was unnerving to watch him.

"Are you happy?" He asked without warning.

Bonnie's only outwardly reaction to his question was the widening of her green eyes. It was so unexpected that she didn't have a ready answer for him.

Because all through the ride home, she was gearing up for an argument over Zayn and how she would stand her ground with Damon while simultaneously trying to ease his mind, letting him know that he had nothing to worry about because she knew Damon had a jealous streak in him a mile long when it came to her. So she was going to nip that shit in the bud fast and quick before things got out of hand.

But he totally flipped the script on her.

How could one simple question feel so invasive?

For some strange reason Bonnie felt put on the spot. Like she'd been caught in a lie and Damon was calling her out on her bullshit.

Shots were fired. But she didn't want to engage, she wanted to fall back and take cover, not wanting to have this conversation with him.

Why did it hurt so much to speak the truth? Her truth.

That every single day was a struggle not to think about what could have been.

And that if she didn't instantly push the thoughts to the far corners of her mind that the gaping hole inside of her would leave her feeling sick.

Her stomach would literally hurt.

"Damon, you know I love you."

Her response was automatic, not even realizing that she was deflecting.

He was not having it though and got them back on track. "That's not what I asked you." His jaw tensed, the blueness of his eyes becoming almost unforgivably hard.

Bonnie felt fearful all of a sudden. Her heart pounding inside of her chest as she stared up at him. She sniffed lightly, shaking her head still refusing to answer him.

"It's not important...it doesn't matter."

Damon swallowed. His Adam's apple bobbing up and down within his throat. Her non-answer indirectly giving him his answer.

He cleared his throat, briefly glancing above her head before returning his gaze back to her face.

"Stefan wants me to go to New York with him and help look for an apartment and I think I'm going to go."

The youngest Salvatore got a really great job offer working for a big shot publishing company and he had two months to find a place to live.

Struck speechless all Bonnie could do was gape at him. "Wait, what? You never said anything about this to me."

"I know. He and I discussed it this morning."

A sense of dread filled Bonnie's gut and she tried to push the feeling down and not panic.

"Why do I have the feeling you only decided just now to go to New York with your brother?"

Damon didn't respond.

Bonnie swallowed hard, wrapping her arms around her middle.

The thought of Damon leaving left her feeling sadly empty inside. She needed him. He was the only thing keeping her together and making everything bearable.

"I can't read your mind, but whatever it is you're thinking you need to stop right now. We don't need to be apart. Everything's fine. I love you and you love me and that's all that matters."

"Bonnie, it's not that simple. I wish it was but its not." Damon said quietly, thinking about the ring he bought her and the plans he made to propose to her on the beach in the Bahamas.

Because none of it mattered if he couldn't make her happy.

It was one thing to compete with a flesh and blood man. That Damon could do. But how the hell did he compete with this whole other life she had planned for herself and never got to experience?

Not knowing the motive behind what Damon was saying to her, Bonnie snapped. "It is that simple! What happened with Zayn was a mistake! It didn't mean anything! Don't make a big deal out of nothing! I fucked up...I wasn't thinking! Don't punish me by leaving!"

"I'm not trying to punish you Bonnie ...I just think we need some time apart."

"Why?! Everything was fine before...we were fine! What's changed, why are you doing this?!"

"Because I think you need some time to figure out what you want."

"What are you talking about? I don't need to figure out anything...I want you!"

"You say that, but do you mean it?"

"Yes I mean it!"

"I don't believe you." He said quietly.

Bonnie was dumbfounded. Running her hands through her hair, she held them there on the top of her head, her mind blown.

"Oh my god, I'm telling you the truth. What's happening right now?"

Damon's silence and the way he kept looking at her with his sad blue eyes, triggered something inside of Bonnie filling her with cold hard fear.

"I swear on everything I love that I'm not lying to you!" She grabbed his face in between her hands, forcing him to look at her when he tried to glance away. "I don't need time to figure anything out! I need you! I want you! I love you! You're everything to me. You're the only thing keeping me sane right now, Damon!"

Damon gently gasped her wrists, pulling her hands from his face and he shook his head no.

Bonnie's heart broke. "Oh god, why is this happening?" When her eyes began to fill up with tears, she covered her face with her hands.

Damon didn't understand the fragile state of mind she was in. It was so scary because she didn't feel like herself anymore. She needed him to keep her together. Because with Damon there by her side, Bonnie was able to cope with everything without falling apart. What would happen to her when he left? She was scared to find out.

"Bonnie, I don't want you to wake up one day and hate me because you felt like I rushed you into something you weren't ready for."

Just then, Felicia pulled up in the Jetta sandwiching Damon and Bonnie between both cars.

Bonnie quickly wiped away the tears that fell down her face, turning her back. Not wanting to give her sister the slightest inclination of what was going on.

Felicia took her sweet time getting out of the car, being nosy as her light green eyes volleyballed between Damon and Bonnie.

"Everything good out here?" She asked, dressed in her Walmart gear just getting off of work.

Bonnie didn't answer.

"Everything's fine." Damon relied with the tensing of his jaw, trying not to show his growing irritation of Bonnie's family always interrupting them at the most inopportune time.

Felicia glanced back at Bonnie and then shrugged her shoulders walking away.

Seconds later, the front door to the house could be heard closing shut.

Bonnie didn't turn around.

She buried her face in the folds of her arms as she leaned against Damon's car.

How did everything go left in a matter of moments over something so stupid? She didn't understand what was happening, nothing made sense anymore.

Damon pressed his body against hers, wrapping his arms around her midsection.

"I have plans for our future Bonnie, but if you aren't in this with me one hundred percent then I need to know now."

Hearing that made the tears come once more and she was grateful he couldn't see her face because she hated feeling so weak.

She hated needing Damon so much.

It was a mistake to rely on him.

"I don't understand what more you want from me Damon. I'm trying so hard to be what everyone needs me to be...but it's not working anymore. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Nothing makes sense. I feel like I'm just out here blowing in the wind. I don't have control over anything anymore. Everything's so fucked up and I'm tired of trying...I'm so fucking tired."

When she began to sob, Damon took a step back so that he could pull her into his arms and he held her close against his chest.

"I know you love me Bonnie. That was never a question in my mind."

"Then why are you doing this? I don't understand."

Damon pulled her body back from his, holding her at arms length so he could see her face. "I'm in love with you and because I love you so much I have tunnel vision when it comes to you Bonnie. I don't see nothing but you. You're the center of my world."

His words triggered her anger and she yanked free from his grasp. "And now I'm the one who doesn't believe you because how in the hell can I be the center of your world and yet you can find it so damn easy to up and leave me without any warning? How Damon?!"

Damon didn't know what to say, her sudden anger catching him off guard.

Bonnie began to back away from him. "You know what? Go to New York with your brother. I made do before you and I can do it again...enjoy your trip Damon."

Turning her back, she walked away from him.

Damon stood there rooted to the spot, the bullet hole in his foot making him unable to move.

* * *

In the days that followed, Bonnie gave Damon the cold shoulder. It was like she was already preparing herself for his absence.

Things were strained between them and everyone in the house felt the awkward tension.

Damon kept trying to get through to Bonnie. Even resorting to trying to bait her into an argument, doing any and everything to get her to react to him but Bonnie refused to engage.

It was like she'd checked out of their relationship, not even trying to put in the effort and it made Damon worried.

So much so that he was rethinking about going to New York.

But then the day before they were suppose to leave Stefan gave Damon an unexpected bro hug and told him how grateful he was to him for going to New York with him because though he never expressed it, he was nervous about striking out on his own and appreciated the support.

After that, there was no way Damon could back out of the trip now. He decided to stay at home that night because if he went to Bonnie he would be too tempted to stay and he didn't want to disappoint his brother.

The next day with their bags packed and loaded into the truck of the car, Damon and Stefan were headed to the airport, but first he wanted to stop by and say goodbye to his girl, even if he was still in the doghouse with her.

Damon parked the car assuming Bonnie's range rover was inside of the garage when he didn't see it outside.

The two brothers got out of the car and walked up to the house.

Using his key, Damon unlocked the front door and Stefan followed him inside, the warmth of the home enveloping them immediately.

Except for Tristan's toys on the living room floor where he was playing, the house was otherwise spotless.

"Hey buddy, how's it going?"

At the sound of Damon's voice, Tristan hopped up from off the floor with a huge smile on his face. He was bored out of his mind playing by himself, so he was happy to see them.

Stefan hadn't seen the little boy in a while, so he was surprised by his new look. Tristan was sporting twists in his hair.

"Dude, what's up with your hair?"

"I'm growing Dread locks...isn't it cool!"

"Hell yeah, super cool." Stefan smiled, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Tristan, where's Bonnie? In the kitchen?" Damon asked because they could smell food cooking.

Trying to duck away from Stefan's hand, Tristan glanced at Damon. "No she's not here. She's gone."

Damon frowned. But before he could question the boy any further, Abby walked into the living room wiping her hands on the clean apron she wore, clearly in the middle of making dinner.

"She went to see some ballet performance at the Arts Center...left about an hour ago." She informed him.

Damn. With everything that was going on, Damon completely forgot about Zayn's invite to Bonnie to come watch him perform.

But it seemed Bonnie clearly didn't.

"Well Stefan and I are about to head to the airport. Our flight leaves in two hours. When Bonnie gets home tell her...tell her I stopped by and that...I'll see her when I get back."

Abby nodded. "I'll do that. You two have a safe trip."

"Thanks Abby."

"Bye guys." Stefan waved.

"See ya." Tristan waved back, disappointed they had to leave and couldn't stay to play.

Abby watched the two men walk out the door and she sighed softly. She could tell Damon was bothered by Bonnie not being there.

Whatever was going on it was between the two of them and she would stay out of it.

"Alright baby, go wash up for dinner and tell your mama the food's ready."

"Okay grandma."

* * *

"You okay?" Stefan asked his brother once they were back inside of the car.

"I'm fine." Damon said starting the car.

Stefan studied his brother's profile, seeing the tension in his jaw. "You're lying...you're far from being fine and you know it big bro."

Damon didn't respond as he pulled out of the driveway.

Stefan sighed. "Look, I'll understand if you want to stay here. I'll be fine in New York by myself. You can just drop me off at the airport."

Damon turned to look at his brother and gripped his shoulder. "I'm going with you."

Stefan gave him a little smile, nodding his head.

* * *

Bonnie's body literally ached for Damon like a junkie going through withdrawals.

It physically hurt to be without him.

At night it was even worse because she had to lay in bed all alone without the heat from his body there to warm hers. It made her miss him all the more.

And with him gone, Bonnie discovered it took a long time for her to fall asleep and when she did it wasn't a restful sleep.

* * *

Two days later, Damon called her. He couldn't help himself, needing to hear her voice.

"So how's the apartment hunt going? Has Stefan found anything he liked yet?"

Damon held the phone for a moment not saying anything. So that was what they were going to do, discuss Stefan? Fine. It was a start.

At least she was talking to him.

"A couple. We have a few places lined up to see today. But the apartments in the city are hella small. No bigger than a hotel room, but they cost a fucking arm and a leg to rent."

"Well hopefully he'll find something." She supplied, with nothing else really to say.

It was so weird. It was never this hard to find something to talk about with Damon. Their conversations just flowed naturally without having to try.

The silence carried on for a few more long seconds and then Damon asked, "Did you enjoy the ballet?"

"Yeah. It was good. Afterwards I went to dinner with Zayn and a few of the other dancers. It was nice...I had fun."

Damon grew silent once again and Bonnie wondered what he was thinking.

He was going to ask what restaurant they went too, but he got tired of pretending like he cared and asked Bonnie what was on his mind.

"Do you miss me at all?"

Instead of answering him, Bonnie asked a question on her own. "Well do you miss me?"

"Gawd, you're such a fucking hardass I swear!" He laughed softly into the phone.

Hearing his laughter made her smile, but it didn't take away the ache in her heart at him being so far away.

But he gave in to her being the first one to say it.

"Of course I miss you Bonnie. I miss everything about you. I miss seeing your face and smelling your skin. I miss feeling your eyes on me, watching me. I miss the taste of your mouth...and your pussy. I miss it all, you evil woman."

"Good." She said and then hung up on him.

* * *

Bonnie hadn't done pointe in close to three years, so her toes were screaming for her to stop dancing on them as she and Zayn performed their old recital from high school on stage at the Arts Center.

It was in between rehearsals and everyone was on break. They had the stage all to themselves.

Zayn had called Bonnie that morning and told her to come down to rehearsals dressed to dance.

She laughed thinking he was joking but he was dead serious.

As soon as rehearsals stopped for lunch, he made Bonnie get on stage and told her to warm up while he drank a bottle of water and ate a fruit cup, watching.

"You were able to retain your flexibility, that's good." He said in between bites.

When she finished warming up, she sat on the stage with her legs spread out in a perfect line and proceeded to leaned her torso forward bringing it all the way down until her forehead touched the floor of the stage with her arms outstretched in front of her.

That was twenty minutes ago.

As she danced now, Bonnie could feel the strain of every underused muscles in her arms, legs and back as she tried to keep up with Zayn.

But surprisingly it felt good to stretch and bend the length of her body in the ballet moves that once came so easily to her.

Come tomorrow her body would be sore as hell, but Bonnie would gladly pay the price for the exhilaration she felt now coursing through her veins as she confidently leaped through the air and Zayn caught her, sliding her body down against his.

They looked like two lovers as they performed which was good because they were performing a piece from Giselle.

Zayn touched Bonnie like he had every right to, his hands gliding effortlessly along her body in lingering touches as the two of them gazed into each others eyes as they danced together.

Not having danced in years, they hadn't lost their chemistry.

By the time the piece ended Bonnie was breathing like she was about to past out, but she felt good though.

"Not bad Tinker Bell. Not bad at all. All you need is a little training to whip you back into shape."

"Yeah right." She laughed self deprecatingly with her hand on her hips trying to catch her breath.

Her feet were fucking killing her.

"Bonnie, I'm not joking around I swear. All you need is some intensive training with someone who knows what they are doing...I mean if that's something you want to do. Have you thought about returning to ballet?"

People began to file back into the auditorium.

"Zayn, we need the stage...okay people, rehearsals start in five!" The artistic director, Thomas Leroy bellowed to everyone.

"I guess I better go."

"Bonnie look, I know someone who could help you. Her name is Nina Sayers. She used to be a prima ballerina in the New York City ballet company. She retired like ten years ago but she teaches now."

"Clear the fucking stage Zayn!"

"Look, I'm going to go okay. I don't want to get you into trouble." Bonnie said worriedly, literally exiting stage left and going down the steps to grab her things sitting in one of the seats on the first row.

"I'll text you her information!" Zayn shouted from the stage.

Bonnie was in such a rush to leave that she bumped into one of the male dancers. "Oh excuse me, I'm so sorry!"

"Not a problem beautiful. You can crash into me any time." He flirted shamelessly with her.

Bonnie smiled politely getting the hell out of there.

She felt flustered and not because of the guy she ran into, but by her conversation with Zayn.

When she stepped out of the building and the chilly Autumn air hit her exposed skin, it felt good.

Quickly slipping on her jacket, Bonnie walked to her car climbing inside.

* * *

It didn't take long getting home and when she did, she found Damon's black Porsche parked in the driveway.

Biting down on her bottom lip, she tried to downplay her excitement of him finally being home.

She made herself calm down before going into the house.

Her eyes immediately sought him out when she walk through the front door but he was no where to be found.

Hearing voices the closer she got to the kitchen, she walked in and saw him sitting at the table having lunch with her mother and Tristan.

Damon glanced up and stopped chewing his food when he saw her standing there dressed in a leotard and tights wearing his leather jacket.

"Look Bonnie, Damon's back!" Tristan announced happily.

"I can see that."

"I brought food. Have you had lunch yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Then have a seat and eat something. There's plenty."

"Okay, but I kinda want to shower first. I'm all sweaty from dancing and..."

Damon interrupted her. "I can see that."

Their eyes held.

Feeling almost giddy by the way his blue eyes were eating her up, Bonnie cleared her throat. "Right. So I'm going to go grab that shower and I'll be back."

Damon watched her leave, sucking his teeth clean of food.

Ten minutes later, he walked into their bedroom and closed the door locking it behind him.

He could hear the showering still going inside of the bathroom and he began to undress.

His dick was already semi hard by the time he pulled off his underwear because his thoughts centered on what he was about to do to Bonnie.

By the time Damon was opening the shower door he was fully, painfully erect. The veins on his penis bulging angrily through his pale skin.

"Fuck." Bonnie breathed lowly, when she saw him in his aroused state.

"Yeah, basically." He said stepping inside and closing the door shut.

Bonnie began to back away from him. "I haven't had you inside of me for a while...it's gonna hurt."

Due to the hell she'd put him through these last few days, Damon had zero sympathy for her. "Good."

* * *

Damon and Bonnie fucked like two dogs in heat while in the shower.

When their lust for each other was sated they moved to the bed where they proceeded to make love slowly, tenderly. Taking their time.

After that, the two lovers fell into an exhausted slumber.

Several hours later, Damon was awakened by the feel of something wet underneath his hip as he held Bonnie in his arms, the two of them spooning in the middle of the bed.

Lifting up the covers to see what the hell was going on, Damon saw him and Bonnie laying naked in a pool of her blood.


	29. Chapter 29

Leaning over the bathroom sink, Abby splashed some cold water onto her face.

Bonnie would be home any minute now and she didn't want her daughter to know she'd been crying.

Abby had everything ready and waiting for her return from the hospital. There were plenty of bottle water and juice in the refrigerator because Bonnie was to stay hydrated. She made a big pot of beef vegetable soup and some cornbread. The house was clean and smelled of Bonnie's favorite vanilla scented candles form Bath and Body Works. The new mattress for her bed was delivered that morning and Abby put fresh sheets and a comfy duvet cover over it. She even laid out Bonnie's favorite pair of pajamas and those thick cozy socks she loves wearing so much.

Abby wanted to make sure Bonnie had everything she needed to properly heal. She even had a long talk with Felicia making it very clear to her that under no circumstances were she to upset Bonnie in anyway. Felicia was to be on her best behavior and be helpful to her sister in whatever way Bonnie needed. Abby wanted peace in the house. There were to be no fighting. No arguments.

Abby even talked to Tristan and tried to explain to him what happened so he wouldn't inadvertently say something to Bonnie that would upset her. She told him that Bonnie was no longer pregnant and that the baby went to heaven to be with Jesus. He cried because he was looking forward to having a cousin to play with and that in turn made Abby cry. She was so hurt inside and her heart broke for Bonnie. No woman should ever have to experience the horrificness of a miscarriage.

"Bonnie!"

Tristan's sweet little voice reached all the way upstairs into the bathroom where Abby heard him. She quickly dried her face with a clean face towel hanging on a rack next to the sink.

Taking a deep breath, she exited the bathroom.

As she descended the stairs she noticed right off how pale her youngest daughter looked as she stood by the front door letting Damon help her off with her coat.

The closer Abby got to her child, she could see that Bonnie's nose was slightly red and puffy. A clear sign she'd been crying. She also had dark circles underneath her eyes which meant that her baby didn't get any sleep while she was in the hospital.

Damon had barely gotten Bonnie's coat off and Abby was there wrapping her arms around her small shoulders in a comforting warm hug.

It took a moment for the stiffness to leave Bonnie's body, but then she relaxed into the hug closing her eyes shut as she felt her mother's love.

"Are you tired, do you want to sleep or are you hungry and want me to make you something to eat? Tell me what you need. Your mama's here to take care of you."

The two women pulled apart. "I just want to lay down. Will you lay with me...just until I fall asleep?"

Abby's eyes lifted above Bonnie's head to Damon who was standing directly behind her. He also looked like he hadn't slept in days. The five o'clock shadow growing on his face making him appear much older.

Breaking eye contact with Abby, he reached down and grab the two grocery bags he'd sat down on the floor when he helped Bonnie take off her coat. "I'm gonna go take these things into the kitchen."

Abby turned her attention back to her daughter. "Of course I'll lay down with you. Come. Here, lean on me if you have to."

Bonnie was in some pain because she didn't miscarry all the way, the remaining tissue had to be scrapped from her uterus. So she was moving slowly.

"Can I lay down too?" Tristan asked walking with them on Bonnie's other side.

"No sweetie, Bonnie needs to rest right now. But tonight you and I can have a sleep over in my room and we'll watch any movie you want, okay?"

"Okay."

But he continued to walk slowly with them to Bonnie's bedroom.

What should have been a few seconds walk to the room, literally took almost two minutes.

"I laid out your favorite pajamas, do you want to change into them?"

"Not now. What I'm wearing is comfortable." She answered.

Bonnie had on an ordinary black cotton blend jogging suit and sneakers.

Abby helped her sit down on the side of the bed. "Tristan, untie her shoe laces for her."

"It's okay mama, I can do it."

"No, I got it Bonnie. Let me help you. Please." The little boy immediately dropping to the floor at her feet and began undoing her laces.

"Thank you sweetheart, I appreciate that."

When he was done, she slipped out of her Nike's and gingerly slide back onto the bed and laid her head down on the pillow.

"Wait a minute Bonnie, don't you want to get underneath the covers?" Abby asked with a frown on her face.

"No I'm fine like this. Can you please turn on the television? It's too quiet in here."

"Sure sweetie, what channel do you want to watch?"

"It doesn't matter."

Abby turned on the TV and then laid down beside her daughter.

Not wanting to leave them, Tristan took up residency in the comfy chair a few feet from Bonnie's side of the bed and played his game that he'd been carrying in his hand all the while.

Damon walked into the bedroom a few minutes later feeling like an outsider. He needed to rest too. Bonnie didn't go through this ordeal alone. He was right by her side every step of the way. He lost a baby too. Where was his support?

Not uttering a word, he walked out of the bedroom.

* * *

"Here take it, you need it."

Damon looked up to find Stefan holding out a beer to him.

They were at home sitting in the living room. Stefan had just got off the phone ordering some Chinese food takeout.

Damon took the proffered beer bringing the bottle to his mouth to drink.

Stefan sat down next to his brother on the sofa.

"The doctor said that it was called a blighted ovum miscarriage. It's where the baby doesn't develop, but a gestational sac continues to grow. He said that it was probably caused by some chromosomal abnormality in the egg."

Stefan absorbed his brother's words, trying to take it all in.

"I feel like I should say something to you, but I don't know what I'm suppose to say. _I'm sorry_ just doesn't feel like enough."

Damon nodded his head, sitting hunched over with his elbows braced against his legs, the beer between his hands.

"You don't have to say anything. Your sitting here with me is enough."

The Salvatore's weren't like Bonnie's family. They didn't show affection. Hugs and kisses just weren't done. Of course there was love in their home. It just wasn't expressed in that way. But seeing how Bonnie's family was and how close they were even though they argued some times made Damon want to change and be different when he had kids. He was going to smother them with all of the hugs and kisses he could muster. And he was going to tell them all the time how much he loved them. That was the kind of father he was going to be.

A single tear rolled down Damon's cheek.

When he began to sniff, Stefan realized that he was crying and moved closer to his brother, awkwardly placing his arm around Damon's shoulders.

"I really wanted that kid Stef...I didn't even care if it was a boy or girl. I just wanted 'em so bad."

Then he just completely broke down.

Everything that Damon had been holding inside trying to be strong for Bonnie just came pouring out of him.

Not knowing what else to do, Stefan just sat there and held his big brother right in the mist of his sorrow.

* * *

Damon returned to Bonnie's much later on that night. It was done on purpose hoping by the time he got their everyone would be in their own bedrooms fast asleep.

He was trying to be extra quiet when he came into the room not wanting to disturb Bonnie's sleep, but there was no need because she was sitting up in bed wide awake.

"Where have you been for so long?"

Damon turned on the light and then closed the bedroom door, locking it to prevent anymore unwanted guests in their bedroom.

"I went home for a while. It got a little too crowded in here for me." He said getting undressed for bed.

"Well at least you should have told me you were leaving. You didn't say shit to me Damon! So is this how it's going to be now that I'm no longer carrying your baby...blatant disrespect from you? You just don't give a fuck now? I no longer matter to you?"

"What the fuck did you expect me to do Bonnie?! You invited your mother into our bed! What? Was I supposed to slide in right next to her and we all cuddle together?!"

Bonnie glanced away.

"Exactly! So I took my ass home because it was clear you didn't want me here!"

"I never said that."

"You're right you didn't, but I could feel it all the same. Even at the hospital you were lowkey acting like you didn't want me there."

Her eyes began to fill with tears. "That's not true!"

Standing in the middle of the room with his bare chest exposed, still holding his tee shirt, he looked at Bonnie incredulously.

"Bonnie every time I tried to comfort you, you pulled away from me!"

"What? No I didn't!"

"You did Bonnie." He swallowed hard. "Every single time."

"Well you try having your fucking uterus scraped and see how you feel! I was hurting after that procedure and I'm hurting now but you don't give a fuck, instead you want to stand there and argue with me when you know I feel like shit!"

That had Damon stopping cold. "Wait, you're hurting right now? Where are your pain pills?" Damon looked around the room full of concern for her.

"You were supposed to take the prescription to the pharmacy while I rested remember? And now I need to change my pad, but it hurts too much when I walk."

"Aw fuck." Damon swore lowly underneath his breath.

He completely forgot about her prescription. Bonnie was right. He brought her home first so she could lay down and rest and then he was supposed to go to the pharmacy and wait for it to be filled. But then he got in his feelings over her wanting her mother instead of him, so he left.

His eyes swung to the clock and saw that it was close to midnight and realized Bonnie would have to wait until the morning.

Damon didn't want her to be in pain all night long, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

But what he could do was make her as comfortable as possible until he was able to get her prescription.

"Where are your pads?" He asked suddenly.

"Why?"

Damon looked around the room and spotted the pack of maxi pads on the dresser. "Because I'm going to change your pad that's why."

"Oh no you're not!"

"Do you want to get a fucking infection?! Is that what you want?!"

"Why are you being so mean to me?!" She started to cry.

Damon made himself calm down. Bonnie was right, he was being mean. The both of them were hurting and they were taking it out on each other.

Laying his shirt down, he went over to the dresser and pulled a pad from the pack and walked back over to the bed bending over her.

"Put your arms around my neck."

Bonnie looked at him, the two of them staring at each other's face. Damon sighed. "Look don't feel embarrassed. Let me take care of you."

After a short moment, she nodded okay. Wiping her tears away she did as he said, placing her arms around his neck.

Gently as possible he picked her up with one arm supporting her lower back and the other underneath her knees.

Damon carried her into the bathroom.

"I'm going to stand you up and then pull down your pants to change the pad. I'll try to be as quick as possible, okay?" He explained.

"Okay."

He put Bonnie down on her feet and then pulled down her pajamas along with her underwear. There was blood on the pad but not as much as he was expecting. Taking the soiled pad from her panties he folded it up throwing it in the trash and took the new one from the wrapper and placed it in the seat of her underwear. Damon happened to look up at her vagina and saw blood there too.

"Wait, where are the wipes? I need to clean you up real quick."

If Bonnie's light brown skin could have turned red with embarrassment then it would've in that moment.

"There on the shelf behind you."

Turning around, Damon went over to the shelf and grabbing a couple out of the plastic container he came back over to her where he proceeded to gently wipe the blood from her body.

When he was done he threw the bloody wipes into the garbage as well, making a mental know to empty the trashcan once he got Bonnie settled back into bed.

"I'm almost done."

He pulled up her panties first and then her pajama bottoms.

"Alright, I'm going to pick you back up. You ready?"

"I'm ready."

Damon lifted Bonnie into his arms and carried her back to bed.

"First thing in the morning, I'll get your prescription filled okay?"

"Okay." She responded softly.

Leaning down, he kissed her head before walking away.

Bonnie watched him go back into the bathroom and grab the plastic bag from off the trashcan and seal it close with a tight knot.

Damon then came back into the room about to throw the bag away when he suddenly stopped at the door, turning around to face her.

"I love you Bonnie."

After what he'd just done, his words rang true to her. There was no denying it.

"I love you too."


	30. Chapter 30

Standing in the bathroom dressed in nothing but a black bra and panties, Bonnie studied her body in the mirror and did not like what she saw.

When she was pregnant she managed to gain a little weight and it all seemed to go to her ass.

Damon loved it.

Every chance he got he was feeling on her booty.

At Bonnie's heaviest, she weighed 113 pounds and now she was down to 107, which was great except for the fact that her derriere didn't get the memo and wasn't shrinking back to it's original size.

Her ass looked like it should belong on J Lo's body and not hers.

Damon said that her booty was sexy as hell, but Bonnie didn't agree. She hated it and was ready to get rid of it because it made her feel fat.

Now that she was cleared by her doctor and was physically okay, she wanted to get back in shape.

Real shape.

Bonnie wanted her old body back. The body she had in high school when she danced ballet.

She was so engrossed in her reflection in the mirror that she didn't even notice when Damon came into the bathroom until he came up from behind, wrapping both his arms around her shoulders and pulling her back against him.

"What are you doing?"

It was Saturday morning and the two of them had slept in because they got back really late last night after attending Liz's older daughter's wedding, so all Damon was wearing was a pair of pajama bottoms having just woken up.

Bonnie tensed a little bit in his arms because the both of them were practically naked, showing entirely too much skin and he was all over her, so she knew where this was leading.

They hadn't had intercourse since the miscarriage, but Bonnie got the okay from her doctor to resume her normal activities just yesterday and Damon was already giving her looks that he wanted sex and soon.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that I'm going to start working out."

"Why? Your body's perfect." He said with one hand going to rest on her hip while the other slid down over her flat stomach.

He bent his head kissing her shoulder.

Now that Damon was no longer holding her, Bonnie was able to slip out from under him and get away.

"Yeah to you maybe. I don't know why you're so obsessed with my ass. It's so fat. I hate it."

Naturally Damon followed her into the bedroom and watched as she slipped on a fitted purple hoodie.

Bonnie was lowkey trying to cover up and not show so much skin.

But she still managed to look sexy with it on, especially with her hair up in a messy bun. Having that morning after sex look going on and she didn't even realize it.

"Your ass is not fat Bonnie. It's gorgeous. There are women out here getting butt injections to have an ass like yours."

"Well they can have mine because I don't want it." She said grabbing her phone off the dresser and lying back down on top of the unmade bed, on her stomach.

Damon laid back down too, using said _ass_ as a pillow for his head with his cheek pressed against her cheek.

Busy on Pinterest looking up fitness workouts she barely registered Damon feeling on her booty.

"I want it." He said.

Bonnie didn't even hear him, not paying attention.

None of the workouts she was seeing appealed to her and she was getting frustrated because nothing fit with what she was trying to do.

Damon enjoyed long lazy mornings like these when it was just he and Bonnie held up in her room laying in bed doing nothing but being together and talking about random shit.

Bonnie suddenly chuckled, thinking about last night. "I've never seen Liz drunk before. She tripped me out last night at the reception. By the way she was talking it sounded like she hates her new son in law."

"She does." Damon chuckled as well. "Kelsey met him online. He's a gamer and he does Youtube videos for a living."

"What? I swear I heard someone at the wedding say he was in IT."

"Well that's a stretch. I wouldn't exactly consider gaming and making videos information technology."

Bonnie thought about that. "Well, sorta kinda...in a roundabout way. I mean if you want to get technical they both involve computers."

Damon found Bonnie's thought process to be cute. He liked how she sometimes saw things differently from him. It was endearing.

Bonnie changed positions, moving onto her side causing her pussy to be directly in his face.

Damon licked his lips like he was getting ready to eat something good.

Gripping Bonnie's hip, he began to kiss the front of her thighs dangerously close to her crotch.

"Something weird happened at the reception when I was waiting in line to use bathroom. There was this really pretty girl with long brown hair who just kept staring at me."

"Umm hmm." Damon sounded distracted, too busy peppering kisses all over her warm soft skin.

What he really wanted to do was lift Bonnie's leg over his shoulder and slid her panties to the side and eat her pussy.

"Yeah. Just totally eyeballing me. I swear that heifer looked me up and down like she had a problem with me being there."

That got Damon's attention and the kisses stopped. "What did she look like?"

"I told you. She had long brown hair parted in the middle and she was real pretty."

That description sounded a lot like Elena Gilbert, Caroline's bestie.

"Did she say anything to you?"

"I wish a bitch would. No she had sense enough not to come up to me. She stayed a safe distance away and just gave me the stank face."

Damon laughed pressing Bonnie onto her back, laying his head on her chest, listening to her heart beat.

She brought her arm down around him and began to lightly scratch his semi beard with her nails.

Damon loved when Bonnie did that.

He closed his eyes getting comfortable on her and would've fallen back asleep if the loud ding hadn't sounded from Bonnie's phone alerting her to a text message.

The text was from Zayn sending her Nina Sayers' contact information.

"Whose texting us?"

Bonnie chuckled at his nerve. "Nobody but Zayn."

"What does he want with us?"

Bonnie continued to softly drag her nails through the hair on Damon's face, making him become sleepy again.

"Nothing important."

* * *

Damon ended up falling asleep so Bonnie left him in bed and went to the kitchen because she was starving for some food.

Felicia sat at the island having breakfast while Abby and Tristan ate theirs at the table.

Felicia scoffed, rolling her eyes when she saw Bonnie walk in wearing nothing but a hoodie and a pair of panties.

She couldn't help but feel a little envious of her body because Bonnie had beautiful toned shapely legs and not a trace of cellulite on the back of her thighs and her butt looked like Jessica Alba's butt did in the movie _Into the Blue_ with Paul Walker who Felicia just loved and cried over when he died.

"I left you some bacon and eggs and there's a couple of biscuits left in the oven." Abby informed her.

Bonnie stood over the stove staring at the food really tempted, but if she wanted to get back into shape then she had to stay away from eating things like that.

"No. I think I'm going to make some oatmeal. I'll save it for Damon."

"The weatherman said it's suppose to storm later on today, so I want to go get my dress for church before it gets bad outside."

"Okay. Let me eat first then I'll go slip on some jeans and we can leave." Bonnie said easily.

"Ooh can I come too?" Tristan piped up, his little mouth greasy from the bacon.

"Sure you can sweetheart." Bonnie answered him, making the oatmeal.

"Are you his mama?"

Bonnie's head snapped up at Felicia's angry face.

"I'm getting real sick and tired of being ignored like I'm not even here with everyone bypassing me and going straight to you regarding my child!"

"Felicia stop." Abby said swallowing hard.

Felicia shook her head about to say something else when Tristan spoke up. "Mommy can I please go shopping with grandma and Aunt Bonnie?"

The little boy was wise beyond his years. From the moment he was born he looked like a little man and everyone who knew him said that he was an old soul. That he'd been here before.

 _And a child shall lead them_ , Abby thought to herself. That bible verse coming to her mind.

Watching with pride in her eyes as her young grandson stepped in like the man he would one day be and totally defused the situation.

Looking somewhat hacked because she'd just been stopped in her tracks and couldn't go off on Bonnie like she was about to do, Felicia stiffly nodded her head. "Yes baby, you can go with them."

"Thank you mommy."

"You're welcome sweetheart."

Abby glanced over at Bonnie. She didn't look up from mixing her bowl of oatmeal.

Everyone remained quiet after that, finishing their breakfast.

* * *

When Bonnie got back to her room, Damon was still knocked out sprawled over the bed.

He had a really long week at work and then last night they attended the wedding staying out until 1a.m., so she knew he was exhausted.

Bonnie slipped on a pair of jeans and grabbed some socks from the drawer putting them on. She looked around the room and spotted her blue Uggs by the chair and went to get them to put on.

The only thing she needed to do now was grab her coat and purse, but first she wanted to let Damon know she was leaving.

Bending down she kissed his cheek. "Baby, I'm gonna go take my mama shopping for a dress for church. I'll be back in a little while okay. There's breakfast on the stove."

Damon opened his eyes, half sleep. "I probably won't be here when you get back. Stefan got us tickets to go see the Falcons play and I'll be back sometime tonight."

"Okay well enjoy the game sweetie." Kissing him once more before leaving.

Damon stayed in bed for another ten minutes before making himself get up. Going into the bathroom, he took a piss and then left the room.

Because the house was so quiet he just assumed he was alone.

Going into the kitchen, walking to the stove, he uncovered the plate sitting there and saw the eggs and bacon with two biscuits and popped it unto the microwave.

While waiting for his food to warm up, he went to the refrigerator and grabbed the orange juice drinking it straight from the carton.

And that's how Felicia found him when she came through the French doors having been outside in the backyard raking up the leaves and she just stopped in mid movement and gaped in awe at the perfection standing before her.

Felicia didn't realized how fucking muscular and cut Damon actually was until seeing him with his shirt off.

She didn't know all of that was underneath his clothing. He was absolutely stunning to look at.

With his head tilted back drinking the juice Damon was oblivious to the fact that he was being ogled by his girlfriend's sister and that currently her eyes were zeroed in below his waist checking out the outline of his dick that she could clearly make out through the material of his pajamas.

Damn. How was Bonnie able to handle all that?

Her baby sister was a tiny girl.

There was no way in hell she knew how to work that piece of meat.

Nah Bonnie's small ass probably just lays there and let him fuck her. Just taking it, Felicia thought to herself.

"Oh hey." Damon said when he noticed Felicia standing there.

She blinked and then swallowed hard. Her throat suddenly dry. "Hey."

"I didn't know anyone else was here." He said turning to throw the empty carton into the trash.

Felicia felt flustered, needing a drink of water. "Yeah I was outside raking up the leaves. Mama was having a fit because they were everywhere."

The microwave beeped and Damon took out his food. He went and sat down at the table and began to eat.

Felicia just stood there by the door looking stupid.

Damon looked up after a moment. "You know you're letting out all the heat."

The door was still open.

"Oh yeah, right...I don't know where my mind's at." She closed it.

Damon continued to eat. Literally scoffing the food down in under two minutes because he was so hungry.

He got up from the table, placing the plate into the sink.

By then Felicia had gotten herself together and was in the refrigerator grabbing a bottle of water.

Damon left the kitchen without saying another word and Felicia watched him go.

"Damn."

* * *

Bonnie liked taking her showers at night because not being a morning person it made it one less thing she had to do when she woke up.

It was after ten and Damon hadn't gotten back yet from the game.

She wasn't worried because whenever Damon was out with his brother he didn't come home until late.

After lotioning up her body, Bonnie slipped on a tee shirt and some panties.

The house was so nice and warm there was no need for pajamas because she would only get hot during the night underneath the covers. Especially with Damon laying beside her.

Sitting on top of the bed, she put her three day old hair up in a pineapple to preserve her curls for tomorrow. She was determined to make this wash and go last for five days.

Having finished her nightly routine, she went to bed.

* * *

Bonnie was woken out of her sleep by the feel of Damon laying on top of her, kissing her lips.

He reeked of alcohol, the smell almost choking her. She coughed, turning her head. "What the hell have you been drinking? My god. You got the hairs inside of my nose burning."

Damon began kissing her neck instead. "Bourbon. Stefan took me to a cigar bar after the game."

Bonnie could tell by the way Damon was talking that he was messed up.

"Are you drunk?"

"Nope. Absolutely not. I only had a few drinks."

"Yes hell you are...I can tell by the way you sound! Damon you know I hate it when you get fucked up now get off me! Get your stinking ass off me!"

He continued kissing her neck like he didn't hear her.

And then Damon's drunk mind spoke his sober thoughts.

"I wanna get you pregnant."

Bonnie froze.


	31. Chapter 31

When the bright sunshine pouring through the windows reached Damon's face his eyes instantly popped open, but then the sensitively to the light had him quickly closing them back shut.

He groaned.

His head hurt like a motherfucker. His mouth felt dry and tasted chalky.

It didn't take a genius to realize he was suffering from a hangover.

It was somewhat surprising to him because the liquor he and Stefan had at the cigar bar wasn't cheap booze.

No it was the good stuff. The expensive kind that's aged for years.

He wondered briefly how his little brother was faring this morning.

Damon and Stefan were spending a lot of time together lately because time was winding up and his baby brother would be moving to New York soon, so they were trying to cram in as much brotherly bonding time as possible.

He was going to miss Stefan.

Craving the warmth of his woman's body pressed against him, Damon rolled over reaching for Bonnie and found a cold empty space instead.

Not wanting to make any sudden moves that would only intensify the pain in his head, he slowly sat up from the bed.

Looking at the time, he saw that it was after seven.

Where the hell was Bonnie that early in the morning that she was gone long enough for her side of the bed to grown cold?

Getting out of bed, Damon vigorously rubbed his face trying to wake himself up.

Needing to empty his bladder took precedence over anything else at the moment, so he walked towards the bathroom to relieve himself.

But Damon stopped cold when he saw Bonnie a few feet away sleeping on the sofa. The master bedroom was so huge that they had to create a sitting area to help fill up the space.

Seeing her laying there felt all kinds of wrong to Damon. Why wasn't she sleeping in their bed next to him?

That wasn't good.

It wasn't a good sign at all. Fuck!

Did something happen last night? Did they get into an argument? The last thing Damon remembered the night before was smoking a Cuban cigar and laughing at Stefan trying to flirt with the female bartender.

Hopefully that wasn't the case and Bonnie was just pissed because he'd been drinking.

She had zero tolerance when it came to drinking and drug use of any kind. Period.

Knowing that about Bonnie, Damon realized he just should have went home with Stefan last night instead of coming back there and now he was back in the doghouse with her.

He was not looking forward to what was about to go down soon.

Damon hated when they were at odds with each other. It didn't feel good. It was their love that kept them so strong. But conflict pulled them apart, especially when Bonnie shut down on him. Closing him out, like he didn't exist to her. It was the worst feeling in the world. He hated when she did that.

Feeling like shit and his breath damn near smelling like it, Damon knew he had to get himself together and get cleaned up so he'd be ready for when his woman put her cute little foot in his ass.

* * *

After having a long hot shower and brushing his teeth, Damon felt physically better but mentally the anticipation of what was to go down with Bonnie was fucking with his nerves which made him second guess picking that moment to shave off his beard.

But he stood in front of the bathroom mirror and did it anyway with a towel wrapped around his waist.

When he was about done, Bonnie's reflection appeared in the mirror. She leaned up against the bathroom door watching him.

She was dressed in a tee shirt and panties, looking sexy as hell standing there.

At the risk of cutting his face, Damon tried not to focus on her and continued with his shave.

"I liked the beard. It made you look ruggedly handsome and not so pretty in the face."

He stopped shaving, his eyes meeting hers in the mirror. "Well it's too late now. You should have told me of your preference before hand. I would have kept it."

"No it's fine. It was just a nice change that's all. Something different. The beard just took your looks to another level. You know, sexy grown man level."

Damon laughed getting a kick out of what she said.

"So how are you feeling this morning?" She asked becoming serious.

He gripped the razor a little more tightly than necessary. "I didn't puke, so that's something. Other than a dull headache, I'm fine."

"That's good that you didn't get sick. Surprising really because you were really tore up last night when you got here. You literally reeked of alcohol."

Damon grimaced. "What did I do?"

Bonnie cocked an arched brow. "You don't remember?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I did."

She sighed, walking into the bathroom.

Bonnie took the razor and then slid in front of him, hopping up on the counter and proceeded to finish the shave.

"Why were you sleeping on the sofa Bonnie?"

Not being ready to have the heavy discussion that was looming over them, Bonnie gave him half of the truth of what happened last night.

"You wanted to fuck when you came home and I wasn't having it. You were drunk and you stank of alcohol, so I slept on the sofa. Case closed."

Bonnie watched as the tension left Damon's body and he visibly relaxed. "Is that all? Damn. You had me worried that I really fucked up."

"Nope. You didn't fuck up _this time_. We're good."

* * *

Sitting outside on the swing by herself, Bonnie watched quietly as Damon and Tristan raked up the fallen leaves on the ground in the front yard.

Wearing a flannel jacket over a tee shirt and some jeans, Damon looked like a gorgeous lumberjack about to go cut down some trees.

Even from the porch, Bonnie could see the brilliance of his blue eyes made lighter from the brightness of the sun.

Damon's eyes were everything. They were so pretty. Bonnie loved them.

The blueness of them was what made him so handsome. And every time he looked at her, it made Bonnie very much aware of her sex.

That he was a man and she a woman. His desire for her always evident in his stare.

He looked at her with such hunger that sometimes it made her blush, bringing out a shyness in Bonnie that was never there before.

Especially when they fucked.

The things he did to her body drove her crazy and it didn't help that he liked to watch her reaction. His eyes always laser focused on her, penetratingly so, as if he was trying to fuck her with his gaze as well as with his body.

Damon was so much more sexually experienced than her that it was intimidating at times, and when he would get into one of his moods their love making would reflect how he was feeling inside.

When he was angry, he'd be more forceful with her when they fucked. Nothing violent. But he liked pinning her wrists above her head and making her take his hard thrusts while being unable to move. He got off on controlling her in that way if he was on the losing end of one of their arguments. And Bonnie let him take out his frustration on her because it felt damn good. Almost too good. She always came harder than a motherfucker during angry sex with Damon.

Bonnie wouldn't regret it until much later when her pussy was sore and then she wouldn't let him touch her for days afterwards punishing him for being so aggressive even though her ass enjoyed every moment of it.

Their relationship was problematic in so many ways. They fought just as much as they loved and in between those extremes, they talked and laughed just enjoying each others presence. He was hers just as much as she was his. They suited one another, fitting perfectly in spite of all their imperfections.

Which meant only one thing...they belonged together. Period.

But now Bonnie had a hard decision to make because the man she loved with her whole heart wanted something from her that she wasn't ready for, a baby.

The sound of heavy boots stumping up the steps onto the porch pulled Bonnie from her thoughts and she focused on Damon's handsome face as he moved towards her taking a seat beside her on the swing.

His arm came to rest on top of the swing behind her head.

"Raking up the leaves, done. You can scratch that one off your honey-do-list."

Bonnie gave him a little smile.

He then leaned down close to her face with a naughty look in his eyes. "So what do I get for being such a good boy and doing my chores?"

"Well what do you want?" Bonnie asked, playing along.

"You know." His blue eyes dragging lustfully over her.

Reaching up she touched the back of his hair, inspecting it and tried not to laugh. "Oh you want me to give you a little trim. I can do that for you."

Damon scoffed with the roll of his eyes as he lightly pushed her hand away.

Knowing the cause of his sullenness, she laughed at him.

Not being able to resist, Bonnie leaned in to kiss his cheek.

Damon side-eyed her.

Grabbing his face from underneath the jaw, Bonnie turned his head fully towards her kissing his mouth.

After a few seconds, she released him. "Soon okay. I promise."

Sex was the absolutely last thing on Bonnie's mind, especially now knowing that Damon wanted to try for another baby.

She laid her head against his chest. "Just give me a little more time."

Damon wrapped his arms around Bonnie, kissing the top of her head. He would be patient and wait.

They stayed like that for some minutes until Tristan ran up onto the porch.

"Bonnie can we have grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch please?" He asked, having worked up an appetite.

"That actually sounds good on a day like today with some tomato soup." Damon chimed in.

Tristan made a yuck face at the mention of soup causing the two adults to laugh.

Bonnie pulled out of Damon's arms getting up from the swing and his phone suddenly went off.

She glanced back at him with an arched brow. "Whose calling _us_ on a Sunday afternoon?"

He grinned standing up.

"Let me find out." She threatened him playfully.

"Oh yeah and what you gonna do about it?" He challenged playing along.

"Beat your ass and then go looking for her!"

Damon laughed.

But before answering his phone he grabbed Bonnie pulling her into his arms. "I would _never_ because I know what I got. You're my Queen."

And then he kissed her lips.

He pulled away after a few quick seconds, not really tonguing her down like he wanted to because there was a child present.

The both of them staring at each other with googly eyes.

Bonnie bit down into her lower lip trying not to feel so giddy by his words."You better answer your phone before they hang up...my King."

* * *

Every day her dancing was getting better and better and so was her flexibility and the ease in which she moved her body.

It was becoming like second nature to her again.

Her limbs lost that tight over exerted feeling that had plagued her the first few days of whipping her body back into shape.

What started out as a form of exercise turned into actual ballet training.

Three weeks ago when Bonnie walked into the local YMCA in Brookhaven, it was with the intent to start working out, meaning the stairmasters, running on the indoor track and maybe using some free weights but when she discovered the facility had a dance studio equipped with ballet bars, her game plan changed and she realized instead of exercising her body with methods she wasn't used to, she'd go back to her roots and dance in order to get back into shape.

It was the perfect solution to getting her body back. She would lose her booty in no time doing ballet that was for damn sure.

It didn't take long for her to realize that the dance studio wasn't being utilized by the other members of the YMCA because every time she went she had the room all to herself and she loved it.

The only thing that she didn't like was that the studio had two huge windows with no blinds so anyone walking by could look into the room and see her dancing.

But after a few days, Bonnie got over the non privacy issue and if anyone was looking she never noticed because as soon as she began to dance she got lost in her art. So much so she'd lose track of time and be dancing for hours.

Though today she couldn't do that because she had to meet Klaus and finish up on Damon's birthday gift.

Bonnie sat on the floor undoing her ballet shoes when the sound of the door being opened made her head jerk up and she saw a nice looking black man standing there.

"Hi, I'm sorry to bother you because it looks like you're about to leave. May I have a moment of your time please? I manage this facility."

For some reason Bonnie got the feeling she was in trouble. Was she not supposed to be in this room? No wonder it was always empty when she came.

Not wanting to feel at a disadvantage she stood up as he approached her with one ballet shoe in her hands.

"I'm Marcel Gerard."

"Bonnie Bennett."

"It's a pleasure to meet you finally." He said with a huge smile that totally transformed his face.

"Finally?" She asked with a quirked brow.

"Yes ma'am. You're the talk of the YMCA. Got parents coming into my office wanting to sign their little ones up for ballet class."

Bonnie continued to look up at him in confusion not saying anything.

Marcel cleared his throat and continued. "As you've probably noticed, this dance studio doesn't get much use. We've been looking for a ballet teacher since we opened last summer, but no luck."

Bonnie continued to stand there looking clueless, not putting two and two together.

Marcel found Bonnie to be very beautiful and having watched her dance, he thought she was talented as well, so her just standing there looking at him with that blank expression on her face made him feel like an idiot, forcing him to get straight to the point.

"What I'm trying to say and failing miserably at is...do you want the job?"

Being the easy going guy he was, the sheer shock on Bonnie's face made Marcel chuckle. He couldn't help it.

Bonnie's brain tried to process the last three seconds of their conversation. He was offering her a job as a ballet teacher?

So she said the first thing that came to her mind. "But I'm not a teacher...I'm sorry."

Marcel didn't see that as a problem. "You are trained right?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well would it be that difficult for you to instruct little children on the basics of ballet?"

No it wouldn't be came the thought to Bonnie's head.

"There would be two classes four days a week morning and evening, one for ages three to five and the other for six to twelve years old."

"I-I..." She didn't know what to say.

"Look, don't decide now. Go home. Think about it. Give me an answer in a few days, no pressure. Okay?"

Bonnie nodded her head slowly still processing everything. "O-Okay."

"Great." He smiled at her. "I look forward to hearing from you.

"Great." She parroted, still in shock from the turn of events.

* * *

It was Damon's birthday.

He was twenty-six and Bonnie thought up something really great to do for him.

So with the help from Klaus she was able to pull it off without a hitch and she knew Damon was going to lose his mind when he saw it.

He would absolutely love it and Bonnie couldn't wait to see his reaction.

The two of them had the house to themselves for a change.

Her mother and Felicia took Tristan to a movie so that Damon and Bonnie could have a couple of hours to themselves to celebrate.

Bonnie made Damon dinner along with her mother's peach cobbler that he just loved because he didn't eat cake.

"I swear I don't know how to take it when you're nice to me." He said while sitting at the dining room table with Bonnie, his belly full.

Bonnie made his favorite meal, chicken fried steak with mash potatoes smothered in gravy and some crisp green beans.

Even though Damon was stuffed from dinner, he couldn't wait to dig into that peach cobbler and he liked to eat vanilla ice cream on top of his.

"Excuse me? You say that like I'm mean to you!"

"What? You are." Damon chuckled.

Bonnie's jaw dropped in disbelief and then she punched him in the arm. "Damon Salvatore, I am not mean to you! Take that back."

"Ow! What do you call that?"

"A love tap."

"More like physical abuse."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. As big and muscular as Damon was she knew damn well that punch didn't hurt him. He was such an asshole at times.

"You may be a small girl, but you're freakishly strong for your size."

She was quiet for a moment. "It comes from years of ballet training. It makes you physically strong. You have to be holding up all of your body weight dancing on your toes."

She quickly changed the subject wanting to move on from this topic.

"Anyway...enough with that. So do you want your present now or after dessert?" She asked standing up to clear the plates from the table.

This was unexpected to Damon. He wasn't expecting a gift. "What, you actually got me something? I thought the meal was my present."

With the plates in her hands, she leaned down to kiss his lips. "You thought wrong, birthday boy."

"Well give it to me then, let's see!"

Bonnie chuckled at his excitement and quickly left the dining room to go take the plates into the kitchen so she could go get his gift.

Two minutes later, she came back into the room carrying her laptop and placed it on the table in front of Damon were his plate was a moment before.

"What's this?" He asked confused, looking down at the computer.

"Just watch." Bonnie said excitedly, pressing the enter button to start it.

Very curious now about this gift, Damon did as he was told and turned back to the laptop.

He watched as a fog filled the screen and a very familiar melody began to play. Then David Coverdale of White Snake singing the beginning bars to _Here I Go Again_ filled his ears and the fog cleared and the camera zoned in on Bonnie standing in front of two Jaguars, one black and the other white.

"No way." Damon breathed out, realizing what she'd done for him. "You didn't." He looked up at Bonnie in disbelief.

She bit her bottom lip nodding her head yes. "I did!"

Damon's mouth dropped open as he turned back to the computer and watched in awe as his girlfriend brought one of his fantasies to life, dancing on top of two Jaguars just like Tawny Kitaen in the infamous 1987 rock music video that had every teenage boy then and now busting a nut into a sock.

But the way Bonnie was moving her body over those cars was a hundred times better.

She even wore the white outfit similar to the one Tawny Kitean wore that he used to drool over as a boy.

"I can't believe you did this...damn you look so fucking hot!"

She was sexy as hell and then when she did the famous split over both cars, Damon lost his shit. He almost stood up and applauded.

"Oh my god Bonnie!"

She laughed, so happy that he loved his gift.

"This is so fucking amazing...I can't believe it. How did you pull all of this off?" He asked unable to take his eyes from the screen because this clearly took a lot of planning.

"Klaus. He set everything up. Got the cars. Found the location. Got a professional camera man to film it and make it look legit. It only took two takes."

After hearing Klaus' name, Damon didn't hear anything else Bonnie said.

"You went to Klaus for help with this?"

Still watching herself in the video, she didn't see the jealous anger flash in Damon's eyes.

"Yes. He was the first person I thought of and he really came through. I couldn't have done it without him."

"Was he there while you filmed?"

"Of course he was there. You know Klaus wouldn't have left me alone with a complete stranger."

Damon's eyes smoldered with anger because he kept picturing Klaus there during the shoot lusting after Bonnie, his dick probably getting hard as she danced provocatively all over those cars.

"How kind of him, but I'm pretty sure he stuck around to watch you dance half naked all over the Jaguars." He said bitingly.

Bonnie frowned, looking down at Damon. She saw the hard line of his jaw bone, clearly clenching his teeth and she realized he was angry.

Seeing that, she leaned forward and snapped the laptop closed. "I should have known better than to do this for you. I should have fucking known. But I wanted to give you something special for your birthday instead of buying you a gift with your own money. I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have fucking bothered."

Damon finally looked up at Bonnie who was standing beside his chair. His face just as taut and angry as hers.

"Why did you go to him?"

"Because he was the only person I knew with connections besides you Damon!"

"You could have went to Stefan...he would have helped you!"

"He's busy getting things ready for his move to New York! What do I look like asking him to drop everything he's doing to help me out with your gift?!"

"He would have done it Bonnie!"

"Well I didn't feel comfortable asking him! He's fucking stressed out as it is and I didn't want to add to it!"

Damon was so fucking livid. The thought of Klaus watching Bonnie dance was driving him insane.

He stood up from the chair he was sitting in with such force that it toppled over. "So instead, you decide to go to the man who wants to fuck you!"

Bonnie took a step back from the explosiveness of his temper.

And Damon took a step forward, getting in her face. "And you know that shit too Bonnie! You aren't fucking stupid! You know he wants you, which begs the question why in the hell did you still go to him?!"

"Stop it Damon!" She yelled at him, trying to push him out of her face and back a little.

When he didn't budge an inch, she turned to walk away. But he grabbed her arm, stopping her.

Caught up in the heat of the moment Damon didn't realize he was holding her much too tightly.

"Why did you go to him? Why?" He repeated his question almost desperately.

Bonnie winced. "Damon, you're hurting me. Let me go."

"You like the fact that he wants you? Be honest with me. You like it, don't you? Tell the truth."

Tears filled Bonnie's eyes from his hurtful words to the tight hold he had around her arm.

"Answer me dammit! You like it!"

"No I don't! You know I don't!"

"You're gonna have to do better than that baby."

"Damon stop it! Why are you so fucking jealous?! You're acting crazy!"

An overwhelming need to humiliate her and make her feel how he was feeling consumed Damon and something flashed in his eyes.

"Kneel before your King, my Queen."

Bonnie looked up at him with wide eyes like he lost his mind.

Damon then took things further and forced Bonnie down on her knees.

She struggled against him, but he was so much stronger than her. "Damon stop...what are you doing?!"

But he ignored her words.

"Tell me you love me. Tell me you can't live without me. Say it!"

The front door suddenly burst opened and Tristan ran into the house coming to a stop when he saw them in the dining room.

Damon immediately pulled her up, releasing her.

Bonnie couldn't believe what just happened and that Tristan witnessed it.

"You need to leave." Her tone cold and unforgiving.

"Bonnie wait, I'm..."

"Get the fuck out of my house Damon!" She yelled loudly.

"Bonnie?! What's going on in here? What's happening?" Abby's concerned voice reaching Bonnie's hears as she and Felicia came into the house.

But Bonnie ignored her mother, her eyes never leaving Damon's face.

"Leave now on your own accord or I call the police and they make you go. It's up to you how we do this."

Damon ran his hands through his hair. "Don't do this Bonnie, I..."

She slapped his face.

Bonnie didn't even blink once. "Felicia call the police right now. This is Brookhaven so they should be here in no time flat."

Felicia looked at their mother and Abby nodded her head because even though she didn't know what the hell was going on, her baby girl wanted Damon Salvatore to leave her house therefore he had to go.

Quickly crossing the room, Felicia grabbed the cordless phone about to dial 911.

Damon held up his hands, giving in. "Fine, you want me to go then I'll go. We both need some time to calm down."

Bonnie shook her head. "No I'm calm...I didn't lose my mind just now. You did. So you go calm the fuck down."

Damon's jaw tensed, but he kept his voice level, acting like he didn't hear that. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Bonnie didn't think she could get any madder than she already was, but she managed to do so. Damon taking her to that level.

"Oh my god, you really have lost your fucking mind. Do you honestly think I'm going to be over what you just did to me by tomorrow?!"

Never seeing Bonnie look at him the way she was right then made Damon feel lower than low.

And it was in that moment he realized just how seriously he'd fucked up.


	32. Chapter 32

Stefan slipped inside of Bonnie's ballet class unnoticed and took a seat among the parents, watching as she demonstrated how to execute a proper plie.

It was the cutest thing ever watching the little girls in their pink tutus trying to position their tiny feet pointing outward while bending their knees trying to mimic Bonnie's ballet pose as they held on the the ballet bar.

Bonnie broke position and slowly made a walk through among them and adjusted each girl's positioning just so until it was right.

"Okay here we go let's start from the beginning. First position. Demi-plie...bend. Stretch. Bend. Stretch. Back straight. Head up. Bend. Stretch...now feet parallel." Each girl brought their feet together. "There are five basic positions of the feet and you will learn them all. One building on top of the other. You will not go to the next position until you have master the one before it. First position again. Demi-plie. Bend. Stretch. Bend. Stretch."

"Which one's yours?"

Stefan turned his head towards the man whispering to him.

But he didn't give Stefan time to answer. "Mine's the one with the glasses. Her name's Dory and she's eight."

Stefan just nodded his head with a polite smile, trying to discourage further conversation with the man.

But the guy didn't take the hint and kept right on talking. "She loves ballet. My wife and I can't get her out of that tutu. She sleeps in it...so which one you said was your child again?" He asked nosily.

"I didn't." Stefan answered, letting the statement hang in the air between them.

The man sat there unsure as to what to do, so he just turned back to the ballet lesson.

"Alright girls, that's it for this evening. I want to see some improvement next week, so practice practice practice." Bonnie said dismissing class.

"Okay."

"Bye Ms. Bennett."

"Have a great weekend."

They all sang one after the other in their young voices before going to their parents who were busy gathering up their things to leave.

Stefan sat where he was and watched as the room emptied out.

Bonnie hadn't notice him yet. She sat on the floor undoing the ribbons of her ballet shoes and took them off, putting them into a mesh bag before placing them into her gym bag.

She then slipped on a pair of Uggs and stood up to gather the rest of her things.

"You move like a dancer now more than ever." .

Bonnie's head snapped around, her green eyes wide with surprise at seeing Stefan there.

"It's because I'm practicing techniques almost everyday now. My body thinks it's in training." She said, slipping on her coat.

He stood up and began to close the gap between them with his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

"So you plan on giving it another shot at dancing professionally?"

Bonnie gave a self deprecatingly little laugh. "It's funny that you ask that because for a hot second I was seriously considering it. I even danced before a renowned professional ballet master to get her advice... and I got my feelings hurt. She was brutally honest with me. She said that the likelihood of me getting accepted as a soloist into a dance company was extremely low, but that if I were to lose at least ten pounds I may have a shot at making it as an ensemble dancer."

Stefan was horrified by that. "Ten pounds? Is she fucking insane? You're so tiny as it is. You'd literally waste away to nothing if you were to lose ten pounds!"

Bonnie gave him a soft, almost sad little smile. "It's a sacrifice that some people make in order to follow their dreams, but I'm not one of them. I guess it just wasn't in the cards for me... but it's okay. That's life. Sometimes things just don't work out."

It was a bitter pill for Bonnie to swallow at first, but then she managed to pull herself together and accepted the job at the YMCA.

At least she could help other little girls follow their dreams.

Stefan's head tilted to one side in a sympathetic gesture.

But Bonnie didn't want his sympathy. "What counts is that I gave it a shot. At least now I can stop always wondering _what if,_ you know? That part of my life is over...it's time to move on."

He nodded his head.

Needing to change the subject, Bonnie asked about him. "So how are things going with you? The countdown to New York is in full effect now huh?"

"Yep. Three more weeks."

"I'm assuming you've found an apartment."

"Yeah, in Soho. It's small but I like it."

"That's good Stefan. Really good. I'm so happy for you. I know you're going to do great in the Big Apple."

He smiled at her. "Thanks Bonnie, I appreciate that."

They both became silent.

The big fat elephant in the room making it's appearance now that the pleasantries were over.

Bonnie decided to bite the bullet and get the conversation over with so she could go home and wash her hair.

"Please tell me he didn't send you here to talk to me."

No. Of course not."

"Then why are you here Stefan if not for your brother?"

Stefan sighed softly.

"I thought so." Bonnie said turning away to grab her gym bag preparing to leave.

"Bonnie wait please don't leave. I just want things to be right between you two before I go to New York that's all. Damon loves you and I know you love him. He's miserable without you Bonnie. He's throwing himself into work. He's not sleeping. He's drinking more than normal. I'm worried about him!"

Bonnie stopped. Hearing that making her heart twist inside of her chest.

"You're right. I do love Damon. But he went to far this time Stefan and if I let him slide with how he treated me, his behavior will only get worse with time and I refuse to go down that road. I watched my mama and my sister be with men that treated them like shit and I promised myself that would never be me."

And though Bonnie loved Damon and missed him like crazy, she loved herself more.

Damon needed to know that what he did was unacceptable and would not be tolerated by her.

The youngest Salvatore looked on helplessly as Bonnie picked up her bag, placing the strap over her shoulder.

"And to make things worse, Tristan saw it Stefan. He walked in on us...did Damon tell you that part?"

He shook his head no.

"Damon has to learn that he can't do fuck-shit to me whenever he's hurt, upset, or angry. I won't tolerate being mistreated by anyone, especially from the man I love. I can't do it...I won't."

"You're right...you're absolutely right." He said after a moment of thought.

Stefan knew his brother was a grown man and could handle his own business, but Stefan just couldn't stand seeing Damon suffer.

But what he did he brought on himself. Damon was his own worst enemy.

Bonnie looked at her watch. "Stefan I have to go. Are we done here?"

"Yeah, we're done...it's dark out. Can I walk you to your car?"

A gentleman to the very end, Bonnie thought looking up at him. Surprising them both, she leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"You're a good guy Stefan Salvatore. You know that?"

He actually blushed, causing Bonnie to laugh.

* * *

Before going home, Bonnie stopped by the store to pick up some things for the house, needing to get some bathroom tissue, dish detergent and trash bags.

It was eight-thirty by the time she got home and pulled into the garage.

Bonnie sat in the car for a few minutes listening to the radio.

It was a Friday night and she would be spending it at home...alone.

She wondered where Damon was, what he was doing...and who he was doing it with.

Gawd, if she kept up that train of thinking she'd drive herself nuts. So she stopped.

Turning off the car, she got out and grabbed her purse along with the shopping bags from the back seat.

She entered the house through the kitchen.

Tristan was sitting at the island finishing up dinner while Abby stood by the sink washing dishes.

"Bonnie a package came for you today." Abby told her as she grabbed a kitchen towel from off the counter to dry her hands.

"Oh yeah, where is it?"

"On the counter behind you with the rest of the mail."

Bonnie turned away from the island going over to the counter and snapped up the small yellow envelop. She immediately noticed there was no postage on it, just her name written across the back.

With a slight frown on her face she opened it, slipping her hand inside and pulled out a passport.

Her passport.

She just stared at it.

It was funny how things sometimes happened in life.

If she'd gotten that thing weeks ago as planned, she and Damon would have been on vacation in the Bahamas during his birthday, which meant she never would have had time to shoot the music video with Klaus because she would've been too busy preparing for the trip.

But that wasn't how things worked out for them.

"What is it?" Abby asked coming over to stand by her side.

"My passport. Damon must have put it in the mailbox."

Abby took it from Bonnie's hand and opened it to have a look. Never having had one before, she was curious.

The older woman sighed softly before speaking her thoughts. "Bonnie how long are you going to drag this situation out? Enough is enough already. Stop punishing him. It's not like Damon hit you. You got a good man that loves you. Do you know how many women out there would kill to have what you have? Think about it for a moment. How many men you know that's willing to not only take care of his woman, but her family too? Don't let your stubbornness cause you to loose a good thing. Forgive him, baby. It's time."

Abby then handed the passport back to Bonnie, praying her words sunk in.

* * *

By eleven o'clock that night Tristan was in bed and Felicia had gotten home from work.

Abby, along with her two daughters sat in the living room watching the news.

Having washed her hair in the shower, Bonnie sat on the sofa with a plastic cap on her head giving herself a thirty minute deep conditioning treatment before doing her hair in some flat twists.

Going on three years since the big chop and being totally natural, Bonnie's hair was now at bra length.

It hadn't been that healthy and thick since she was a child.

Having gotten relaxers since she was twelve, her hair was damaged beyond repair so one day she decided to just cut it all off and start over.

It was the best decision she ever made.

A sudden loud thump coming from outside on the porch drew everyone's attention towards the front door.

"What the hell was that?" Bonnie asked jumping off the sofa to go see what was going on.

Abby and Felicia got up as well, following behind her.

The three women opened the door to find a drunk Damon Salvatore struggling under the weight of a huge ass Christmas tree.

Felicia giggled but then stopped, covering her mouth when Bonnie shot her a death glare.

She turned back to the man on the porch. "Damon, what are you doing...it's eleven o'clock at night?!"

Giving up, he just dropped the tree back onto the porch. "I-I I told Tristan that I would get a Christmas tree and I'm keeping my promise to him. So if you ladies would be so kind as to move out my way, I'll bring it into the house."

"Do you need help Damon?" Abby asked trying not to smile.

"No no ma'am, I got it. You ladies just move."

Bonnie had her hands on her hips not fooled for a minute. That Christmas tree was just an excuse to come there, but before getting the chance to give Damon a piece of her mind, Abby intervene.

"Okay girls, you heard the man. Move out the way so he can bring in the tree."

Damon arched a brow at Bonnie.

After a moment, she reluctantly step to the side, crossing her arms as he literally dragged the tree through the front door into the house.

"Don't scratch up my hardwood floors!" She yelled at him.

"If I do I'll get it fixed, you evil woman... now hush your mouth!" He yelled back at her.

"Alright you two, enough before you wake up Tristan." Abby cut in.

Damon and Bonnie glared at each other, but then his eyes slide down the length of her body clad in a pair of boy shorts and a tank top and he licked his lips.

It just made Bonnie even angrier. "Gawd I swear you're such a pig!"

"Oink oink baby." He grinned sexily.

Bonnie literally growled before yelling "Get out!"

Abby intervened once again. "Bonnie stop, Damon's drunk. We can't let him get back behind the wheel like this. It's a miracle he made it here safe and sound."

Bonnie knew her mother was right, but that didn't stop the death glare she threw Damon's way.

"Fine you can stay. But you're sleeping on the couch and don't you dare come anywhere near my bedroom, you got that Damon? I mean it!"

"Yeah right because you in that damn shower cap is so irresistible!" He shot back.

Bonnie gasped, her green eyes widening. She reached up to touch her head having forgot all about her hair.

Not being able to cuss him out like she really wanted to because Abby was standing there, she said the first thing to come to her mind. "Oh go jump in the lake Damon!" And she stormed away to go wash the conditioner out of her hair.

"Right after you, my love because you know I'd follow you anywhere!" He yelled after her.

When Bonnie was no longer in eye sight, Damon turned around to find Abby and Felicia staring at him.

"I think that went well, don't you agree ladies? Things are back to normal."

* * *

By the time Bonnie finished doing flat twists all over her head, it was almost two o'clock in the morning.

She came out of her bedroom intending to go into the kitchen for some juice but stopped dead in her tracks because that idiot not only had the living room light on, but the television on as well while he laid knocked out snoring up a storm on her sofa.

Bonnie marched over to Damon intending to wake his ass up and give him hell, only getting madder by the second as she had to step over his shirt, jacket, socks and shoes scattered messily all over the floor.

How dare he fuck up her clean living room like that!

Just about to pop the hell out of Damon's naked back to wake him up, she saw her name tattooed over his right bicep in bold black cursive writing.

No way, she thought to herself. There was no way it was real.

Licking her thumb, she rubbed it over the tattoo and nothing happened.

Oh god, it was real!

All Bonnie could do was stare at it in total shock.

Why on earth would he do that? He must have been drunk when he got it done.

"You stupid idiot." She whispered softly, gently touching his handsome face.

Bonnie turned away from Damon's sleeping form and began to gather his clothes up from off the floor.

When she picked up his suit jacket, there was a tiny blue box and some papers folded in half length wise laying under it.

Bonnie frowned to herself as she opened the box and literally gasped at the gorgeous center cut diamond ring staring back at her.

Not knowing what to think, she looked back at Damon as if he was going to wake up at that moment and tell her what was going on.

Turning back to the ring as if it had called her name, she lifted the diamond from its cushioned slit and placed it on her ring finger.

It was a perfect fit.

Bonnie honestly didn't know what to think.

So many thoughts ran through her mind with not one really taking hold and making everything make sense.

First the tattoo and now the ring, she wondered what other little surprise Damon had in store for her that she had yet to discover?

Finally taking a look at the papers still clutched in her hand, everything else she was holding suddenly dropped back down on the floor.

Feeling slightly light headed, Bonnie sat down in her mother's favorite chair and made herself breathe because the papers she was holding were a certified copy of Damon's annulment.


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: I'm not sure how you guys will receive this chapter and on top of that, it's short. But its all BAMON.**

* * *

Damon awoke with a start and for a second there didn't know where he was, but then he saw Bonnie sitting a few feet away from him and his body relaxed.

Slowly, he sat up placing his feet to the floor and he angled his head to one side to crack his neck from sleeping on the uncomfortable sofa.

"What time is it?" His voice was thick from the alcohol induced sleep he was in.

Bonnie's eyes lifted above his head to the stylish clock mounted on the wall behind him. "It's three o'clock in the morning...everyone's asleep."

Damon guessed that was his cue to keep his voice down. His brow quirked. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"For a while." She answered quietly.

He frowned slightly at that. "Are you okay?"

Bonnie shook her head no and then after a beat stood up from where she sat to walk cross the room to him, standing between his legs.

Damon tipped his head back a little to gaze up at her. "Bonnie what are you..."

She placed her finger to his mouth. "Shhh."

And then bending down, she kissed his lips while holding his face between her hands.

In his still somewhat intoxicated mind, Damon didn't know what to think, but that didn't stop his hands from sliding underneath her nightgown.

Bonnie immediately pulled away from his mouth and grabbed Damon's hands stopping him with a reproachful look on her pretty face.

"Be still or this ends now, you understand?"

Damon swallowed hard and then slowly nodded his head that he understood.

Bonnie returned her mouth to his, but this time softly kissing him with her tongue.

Damon's heart began to pound in his chest, his body awakening with sexual desire and his breathing increased as his cock twitched happily inside of his pants.

Bonnie told him to be still, but that didn't stop Damon's greedy tongue from plunging into her mouth as his took control of the kiss.

Bonnie grabbed the back of his head and with a fistful of his hair in her hand gave it a good yank effectively putting an end to their kissing.

Damon hissed from the slight pain to his scalp.

"What did I tell you? Do you want me to stop? Is that what you want... or do you want this?"

Taking his hand, she boldly placed it between her legs.

Feeling her heat, Damon already knew what she would smell and taste like if he were to rip off her panties.

Damon remained deathly still though, afraid to move a muscle because he wanted her so badly.

But that didn't stop his dick from bulging against his pants. He prayed that Bonnie wouldn't glance down and count that as strike three.

When Bonnie saw that he was ready to cooperate, she preceded along with things. "Now sit back."

Damon did as he was told and sat back on the sofa.

Reaching underneath her gown, she pulled down her panties letting them fall to the floor.

Damon licked his lips in anticipation, lowkey wanting to bury his face right between her legs so he could smell her pussy.

But he didn't dare move, desperate to be inside of her.

Slipping the gown off her body, she straddled Damon's lap and began to undo the button to his pants, letting down the zipper.

All the while Damon watched her, his gaze soaking up the sight of her gorgeous body.

Her breasts were no longer full from when she was pregnant, but nevertheless they were still beautiful to him.

He desperately wanted to place his mouth over her nipples and taste the sweetness of her skin, but fear of her stopping held him in place.

She leaned forward like she was going to kiss him but she didn't, instead she pressed her forehead against his and took his hand and placed it back between her legs, guiding his fingers over her warm silky slit.

"You feel that? I'm not wet enough to take all of you...I need you to make me wet Damon."

And she began to grind sexily against his hand.

Damon's dick felt like it was going to bust through the seams of his pants.

"Your fingers aren't enough. I need you to lick my pussy."

Just when he was about to make a grab for her, Bonnie pushed herself off of him standing to her feet.

Damon looked up at her in confusion as she began to back away from the sofa.

He watched almost mesmized as she lifted her foot on the edge of the coffee table with her leg open.

When he just continued to sit there and look at her, Bonnie placed two fingers into her mouth and sucked on them before placing them between her legs and began to rub her clit.

Damon swallowed hard, his mouth going dry. "I-I thought you wanted me to lick your pussy."

"I do, but you're just sitting there."

After a moment, she threw her head back as pleasure shot through her body. "Oh god, it feels so good." She moaned.

Damon jumped to his feet and was kneeling down before her on both of his knees in record time.

He pulled her fingers away and replaced them with his mouth.

The moment his tongue touched her, Bonnie's knee buckled from under her.

Even though he was still half drunk, Damon reflexes were on point, gripping the toned globes of her ass with his hands to keep her steady.

For two minutes Bonnie indulged in her pleasure, allowing Damon to have at her pussy and she enjoyed every second of it.

It took a strong willed, disciplined mind to abandon such exquisite pleasure, and she managed to do it.

Once again, Bonnie grabbed the back of Damon's hair and gave a hard yank, pulling his head from between her legs.

The look on her face was filled with such loathing as she glared down at him like he wasn't fit to wipe her ass when she shitted.

"You like kneeling before your Queen, slave?"

Damon's face went from shock to murderous in a matter of seconds.

"You aren't fit to smell my pussy let alone eat it and yet here you are being granted such favor. "

Having had enough of this bullshit, Damon reached behind him and tried to grab Bonnie's hand.

She yanked his hair again, but this time much forceful than before.

"Fuck!" Damon hissed in pain, his eyes watering with tears it was so intense.

"I said don't move or I'll rip it from your scalp creating a bald spot in the back of your head that may never grow back."

"Bonnie, I swear if you..."

She yanked again. "Are you threatening your Queen, slave?"

Damon gritted his teeth, but his ass didn't move again for fear he'd have a bald spot in the back of his head, but that didn't stop him from speaking.

"I'm not your fucking slave. Whatever kinky little role play this is, I'm not into it."

Bonnie cocked her head to one side as she stared down at his angry face with a knowing look on hers.

"Oh but you are my love...you're a slave to my pussy. You and I both know it. You'll do anything for me to get it. To keep it. You bought me this house. A $65, 000 car. You tattooed my name on your body. And now you want to marry me. You crave my pussy more than anything else on this earth. And when I deny you, you don't know how to act. You become irritable, sad, depressed, angry and bitter all at once. My pussy is your life line. You can't live without it...deny it. I dare you."

Damon glared up at Bonnie with a mixture of angrier and humiliation on his face because he couldn't deny it.

And what was getting to him most was that Bonnie knew he was pussy whipped all along and here he was thinking that he was keeping up a good front like his need for her wasn't that serious.

She just didn't say anything about it. Never threw it up in his face or tried to use his weakness for her against him...until now.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked with a hurt voice, feeling betrayed by her.

"Because over time I've learned that it's best to show you how I feel rather than tell you because you won't get it until you feel it for yourself. The anger and humiliation that you are experiencing right now is exactly how I felt when you forced me to kneel down before you. Using your strength as a man against me while exposing my weakness to you...now do you see the gravity of your actions and how it affected me? The fact that it was your intention to humiliate me because of some unwarranted jealousy of Klaus is unforgivable Damon. It really is. And it's only because I love you that I will do so. But on everything I love, if you ever disrespect me like that again, you and I are over. Do you understand me?"

A tear slipped from Damon's eye, rolling down his cheek.

He nodded his head, unable to speak.

Bonnie let go of him, taking her leg down from off the coffee table.

Walking around Damon, she gathered up her gown and underwear, slipping them on one at a time.

When she turned back around, he was still kneeling on the floor.

"Get off your knees Damon and go back to sleep You're still a little intoxicated, I don't want you driving."

Damon stood to his feet almost robotically, still shook from what just happened.

"How did you know I was going to ask you to marry me?"

"I found the ring along with your annulment papers on the floor underneath your jacket. I guess they must have slipped from the interior pocket when you got undressed last night."

Damon's eyes meekly lowered to the floor.

Bonnie knew that his behavior was mostly due to the alcohol still in his system because Damon Salvatore didn't have a docile bone in his body. He would be back to his normal dominating self by morning.

"So what do you say? Do you want to marry me?"

Bonnie sighed tiredly. "Damon, you and I are nowhere near ready for marriage and deep down I think you know that. We're both still so young and have a lot to learn. We have time. We don't need to rush things, okay?"

He nodded his head, looking like some sad lost puppy dog in a kennel.

Not being able to help herself she went to him and leaning up on her tip toes she kissed his cheek.

"I love you Damon Salvatore...almost to a fault sometimes. But I can't seem to help myself when it comes to you."

Damon wrapped his arm around Bonnie pulling her to him for a hug and he buried his face against her neck.

"I understand the feeling." He whispered into her ear, holding her like he never wanted to let her go.

Bonnie smiled closing her eyes.


	34. Chapter 34

AUTHOR'S NOTE REMOVED


	35. Chapter 35

It was two days before Christmas and while everyone else was busy doing last minute shopping and standing in long ass lines at the airport trying to get home to their families for the holidays, Damon and Bonnie were laying on a white sandy beach in the Bahamas soaking up the warm sunshine in their swimsuits.

The trip was last minute, but Damon was able to pull some strings and get them a seven day reservation at this private island resort.

He was determined to have the trip they should have taken a month ago, but he was cutting things damn close because Stefan would be leaving for New York the day after they returned home and Damon wanted to see him off safely.

Bonnie was so excited about the trip until Damon told her when they would be leaving.

When Bonnie found out they wouldn't be home for Christmas, she didn't want to go anymore because she never spent the holidays away from her family and that just didn't sit right with her.

So she tried to talk Damon into postponing the trip until some time next year.

But he'd already paid for their hotel stay which was nonrefundable, so that was that.

Bonnie didn't understand why Damon would do something like that because Christmas was supposed to be a holiday spent with family and he knew how close she was to hers, so why on earth would he think she'd be okay with this trip?

It was like Damon was on some sort of record breaking streak of fucking up back to back with her and she was over it.

A sudden shade fell over Bonnie blocking out the sun and she looked up to find Damon standing over her holding two tropical drinks in his hands.

He held one of them out to her. "Here, drink this before I fucking kill you."

Bonnie may have been over Damon, but he was also over her ass too.

Here they were in literally paradise, but she wasn't fully enjoying it because her mind was back home with her family.

Bonnie looked at the drink suspiciously. "What's in it?"

Damon shrugged carelessly. "A little of this, a little of that."

"Well, does it have alcohol?"

"Possibly."

"Damon you know I don't drink."

"I know, but we are on vacation and you need to loosen up. Look, it's not even a real drink. It's more blended fruit than anything with just a hint of rum. It's not strong at all. You won't even taste the alcohol. I promise."

It wasn't a hint of rum though, more like two shots. But they were small shots. Damon watched the bartender mix their drinks.

Bonnie's gaze flickered back to Damon's face. He was wearing designer sunglasses with his hair still wet from the water and slicked back from his face.

He looked drop dead gorgeous standing there in his black swim trunks.

The Bahama sun had kissed his skin giving him some color and making the muscles on his body look that much more defined, easily making him the best looking piece of male beefcake on the beach.

Desire rushed through Bonnie's body, going straight between her legs.

Not aware of Bonnie's reaction to him, Damon became impatient with her silence. "Woman, I swear if you don't take this damn drink I'm...!"

Bonnie quickly snapped out of it, cutting him off. "Okay okay, jeez. Calm down. I'll take the drink. Give it here."

"That's more like it." He said lowly, handing her the fruity tropical drink.

Having heard him, she rolled her eyes before taking a tentative sip from the straw. Her pretty face registering surprise instantly. He was right, she didn't taste the alcohol at all. It just tasted like a slushie made with real fruit.

"Good?" He asked still standing over her.

She nodded her head eagerly. "Yeah, real good. It's refreshing."

He leaned down in her face. "Give me a kiss beautiful."

Bonnie kissed his lips, smelling the alcohol on his breath. She told herself to relax and not make a big deal out of it because they were on vacation and that's what people did, they drank while enjoying themselves.

"You look so hot in that bikini."

"Thank you baby. I'm glad you like it." She said caressing his face.

Damon wriggled his brows suggestively. "I more than like it." He kissed her once more before taking his place beside her on his chaise lounge.

Bonnie had on a sexy little black bikini that had cut outs on the bottoms that went up along her hips in gold metal detailing. Her hair was pulled up in a messy topknot with her shades perched on top of her head.

They both were silent for a while as each enjoyed their drink.

Damon sighed happily. "This is the life."

Bonnie cocked a brow in his direction. "What, drinking at ten o'clock in the morning?"

Damon shot her a glare of his own. "Speaking of, drink up Ms. Debbie Downer."

Bonnie scoffed rolling her eyes at him, but she still took another sip really liking the taste.

Damon continued. "No I'm serious. Really think about it for a second. We're on the beach right now, soaking up the sun while everyone else back home in the states are all bundled up in their winter coats under ten feet of snow wishing they could be somewhere warm and we're actually here doing it."

As Damon's words began to sink in, Bonnie realized he was right.

What was wrong with her?

Here she was in the Bahamas, one of the most beautiful places she'd ever seen in her life and she was there with the man she loved.

Now was the time to live in the moment and enjoy being young and free and in love.

This was exactly how she wanted to live her life and Damon made it possible for her."

"You look so fucking hot in those sunglasses."

Damon's brows shot up in surprise.

"Hella sexy." Bonnie said biting her lip.

"Well damn, I should make you drink more often. I like flirty, drunk Bonnie."

Bonnie laughed. "Shut up...I'm not drunk you asshole."

"Well you're definitely something right now because you NEVER compliment me."

"Boy stop. I compliment you." This time taking a long pull from the straw, smiling.

"Not once. Ever. Since we've been together."

When Bonnie realized that he was being serious, she stopped smiling it completely disappearing from her face.

"That can't be true."

"Well it is." He sat back in his seat and took a sip from his drink.

Being a good looking guy Damon was used to having women falling all over themselves and telling him how handsome he was, but from day one Bonnie never seemed to be fazed by his looks and though he never said anything, it kind of bothered him a little. Yeah it was a bit conceited, but Damon couldn't help how he felt. He was in love with her and what she thought of him mattered more to him than what anyone else thought.

Bonnie was at a lost for words, her mind coming up blank as she stared at him. "Damon, I'm sorry. I never realized it. I-I..."

"It's nothing...forget it." He said dismissively deciding to let her off the hook. He stared out into the Caribbean Sea.

"No Damon stop, it's not nothing and I won't forget it." Putting down her drink, she got up and went to him.

Straddling Damon's lap Bonnie removed his sunglasses so she could see his eyes.

"Do you have any idea how many times a day I have to force myself to look away from you?" She touched his face. "I think you're so beautiful and sometimes I can't believe you're mine. I could literally stare at you for hours. I love everything about you Damon, from the blueness of your eyes to the sexy ass way you walk."

All Bonnie had to do was be sweet to Damon and he would melt like glue in the palm of her hands.

It honestly didn't take much to turn his frown upside down because that's how in love he was with her.

When Damon began to grin like an idiot, Bonnie knew she had said the right thing to him and she leaned in to seal their lips with a kiss.

Moments later as she pulled away, her eyes remained locked to his mouth almost in wonder.

"But that mouth though. I love that mouth of yours more than anything."

Damon laughed, tickled to death by her behavior. "I know your little ass is feeling that rum now."

Bonnie paid him no mind though, touching his lips with her fingertips. "What do that mouth do?"

Damon's brows shot up into his hair line and then his blue eyes gleamed hotly as he stare back at her.

"What do you want it to do?"

Bonnie moistened her own lips with a quick flick of her tongue, making Damon want to grab it with his mouth and suck on it.

"Let's go back to the room." She uttered a little breathlessly.

* * *

Damon stared down at Bonnie as she slept, the two of them laying naked beside each other in the middle of the bed.

It wasn't even noon yet. They still had an entire day ahead of them, but that was the beauty of being on vacation.

Damon didn't care if all they did was stay hold up inside of their room and just sleep, eat and fuck for the rest of the trip.

He was just happy having Bonnie all to himself.

After eating her out, they fucked twice and both times Bonnie was very vocal in telling him want she wanted and how she wanted it.

That was definitely a first.

She didn't hold back at all, even in the way she unabashedly moved her body underneath him like she couldn't get enough of his dick, wanting him to go deeper.

Their second go round, Bonnie insisted upon being on top and Damon knowing it was the rum talking, tried to warn her against that because normally Bonnie didn't like that position because she said that it hurt, but she ended up being fine. She rode him like a seasoned professional.

At one point, she even pinned Damon's arms down, taking full advantage of her dominate position and he liked to have busted a nut right then and there.

Bonnie was just full of surprises and Damon found he liked that a lot.

* * *

Bonnie woke up a couple of hours later to find Damon staring down at her and before she could say a word, he was kissing her.

"How do you feel? Does your head hurt?" He asked when they stopped, laying his head on her pillow.

Even though Bonnie had the warmth of Damon's body heat next to her, she was still cold from the air-conditioner. So she snuggled deeper underneath the covers.

"I don't have a hangover Damon. I wasn't drunk. I didn't even drink the whole thing."

"Yeah but you're tiny though and you're not use to alcohol."

"I don't care. I'm telling you I wasn't drunk." She insisted, yawning slightly.

Damon decided to drop it because it wasn't that serious. "You hungry?"

"Yeah, I actually am. All I had for breakfast was yogurt and some fruit."

"You know, I'm still side-eyeing you over that. Who the hell just has yogurt and fruit at an all-you-can- eat-buffet?"

"I do."

"But we're on vacation Bonnie. It's the one time you're allowed to overdo things and indulge. And that includes overeating and drinking."

Bonnie chuckled thinking he was joking.

Damon kissed the tip of her nose. "I'm serious... I wanna see you eating more, okay?"

Every now and then Damon had a certain tone to his voice that Bonnie submitted to unconsciously.

It didn't happen often, but when it did she never opposed him on whatever issue they were discussing, like now.

"Okay, fine. Don't make a big deal out of it."

"I'm not."

Bonnie rolled her eyes making a move to get out of bed. "Yeah you are Damon because I can hear it in your voice."

"Wait a second." He prevented her from the leaving the bed by rolling on top of her.

"No because you're acting like I have some sort of problem with food!"

"Hey, I never said that."

"Bullshit Damon. I'm not stupid. I can read between the lines."

"Well you read wrong then. So relax. I love you okay."

Bonnie turned her head from him, not wanting to hear it because she was in her feelings.

"Stop it. Don't act like that."

"Don't tell me what to do. You're not my father."

Damon didn't want things to escalate into a huge argument, so he changed tactics. "True. But I am your daddy." He whispered close to her ear.

He then began to slowly kiss his way down Bonnie's body regaining her full attention.

"I thought you'd like that." He grinned before taking one of her breasts into his mouth, sucking on her nipple.

"Oh god." Bonnie moaned arching upward, wanting him to swallow her whole.

"No not god, my love. Daddy."

"Please stop talking." She whined.

Damon chuckled as he continued his path downward. "I thought you loved my mouth though."

"I do. It's your voice I can't stand."

Damon bit the inside of Bonnie's thigh, inciting a painful grunt from her. He then quickly licked that same spot warranting a pleasurable moan from her.

"Be nice to me or I won't give you what you want."

Bonnie licked her lips, breathing heavily. "I'm always nice to you."

"The devil is a liar." He said, using the phrase he learned from being around her family. "But you'd say just about anything right now to feel my mouth on you. Wouldn't you?"

"Yes." She breathed.

"At least you're honest about that."

"Then reward me. Please."

Damon dipped his head placing his mouth on Bonnie and he didn't let up for a while. If she let him, he really could eat her for hours.

* * *

Damon and Bonnie ventured off the resort to get something to eat on the island.

They went to this nice restaurant not too far from their hotel and had a really great dinner.

Bonnie made a show of eating everything she was served and even ordered dessert afterwards.

It was some kind of bread pudding and Damon helped her eat it.

When it was time to leave, Bonnie excused herself and went to the restroom.

She stood there for a good minute just staring at her reflection in the mirror and then she snapped out of it, leaning over the sink to wash her hands.

Grabbing a couple of paper towels from the dispenser, she dried them as she walked towards one of the stalls.

Carefully making sure that her hand didn't touch anything, she used the damp paper towels to lock the door.

And then bending down over the toilet as close as possible without touching it, Bonnie proceeded to slide two fingers down her throat.


End file.
